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HANOI: Vietnam deployed hundreds of soldiers and heavy machinery on Thursday (October 29) to search for survivors after landslides triggered by torrential rains from Typhoon Molave, one of the strongest typhoons in the region in decades.
Landslides, which affected remote areas in central Quang Nam province on Wednesday night, killed 13 people and 40 disappeared as rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather at the end of the storm. the government said. State media said 12 fishermen died at sea.
“We can predict the path of the storm or the amount of rain, but we cannot predict when the landslides will occur,” Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said in a statement.
“The road is covered in deep mud and heavy rains continue to hit the area, but rescue work must be carried out quickly,” Dung said.
A man cycles past a broken sign as Typhoon Molave hits the coast of Vietnam in Binh Chau village, Quang Ngai province, on October 28, 2020 (REUTERS / Thanh Hue)
State television said the bodies of 12 fishermen were found Thursday after their boats sank as they tried to return to shore two days earlier. Two Navy ships had been mobilized to find them and 14 were still missing.
Since the beginning of October, Vietnam has been battered by storms, heavy rains and floods that have affected more than a million people.
The government said Typhoon Molave left millions of people without power and damaged 56,000 homes. It weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall on Wednesday and is expected to reach Laos later on Thursday.
A woman works in a barber shop damaged by Typhoon Molave in Binh Chau village, Quang Ngai province, Vietnam, October 28, 2020. (REUTERS / Thanh Hue)
Images on social media showed towns overwhelmed by flooding and roads littered with debris, trees downed or blocked by landslides.
Before the storm, people in affected areas had shared photos of corrugated shingles with their names and addresses, to help facilitate reconstruction efforts.
Heavy rains of up to 700 ml will continue in parts of central Vietnam through Saturday, the meteorological agency said.
Before Vietnam struck, Typhoon Molave tore through the Philippines, causing flooding and landslides that disaster authorities said had killed at least 16 people.
