Tropical storm hits southern provinces

Tropical storm Ketsana hit southern Laos early yesterday morning, causing widespread flooding in Xekong and Attapeu provinces, according to radio broadcasts.

Deputy Head of the Meteorology Department’s Weather Forecasting and Aeronautical Division, Mr Vandee Duangmala, said his department had received little information from the southern provinces at this stage due to communication problems caused by the storm.

“We know the storm brought heavy rain and strong winds, causing the Xekong river to rise to 19 metres and flooding many areas of the province as well as Attapeu,” he said.

The weather official said that by yesterday afternoon the storm had already passed through Saravan province into Thailand . The body of the storm, which began in the Philippines, moved across the region in a west-south-westerly direction at a speed of 15km/hour.

He said the affected areas would return to normal today, perhaps with a few lingering showers.

“We are now collecting information from local authorities. Most districts in our province were flooded and many people are moving their belongings onto higher ground to prevent damage,” said Attapeu Radio and Television Station Head, Mr Lavy Soukthavilay.

Mr Lavy told Vientiane Times by telephone the Xekong river had risen rapidly yesterday morning during the heaviest rain, and was stabilising in the afternoon.

“The province reported that about 50 hectares of agricultural land is flooded, but this is an estimate and we are still waiting for an official report,” he said.

Mr Lavy said he was speaking from Samakhyxay district, where many streets were under water and people had moved to higher ground to stay dry.

“Lao Telecom and Star Telecom couldn’t transmit signals here yesterday, but luckily the electricity didn’t go off,” he said.

Ketsana was initially expected to hit Laos in Savannakhet and Khammuan provinces on Wednesday, but expended much of its energy in the central provinces of Vietnam, killing at least 38 people, injuring 81 and leaving 10 others missing, according to the Vietnam News Agency yesterday.

Nearly 300,000 houses were demolished or lost roofs during the storm’s reckless journey across Vietnam , which also damaged schools, health clinics and flooded nearly 48,000 hectares of agricultural and industrial land.

By Panyasith Thammavongsa
October 1, 2009
Vientiane Times