Borikhomaxay province residents have faced unsafe drinking water and food shortages since the area was slammed by flash flooding last weekend, with damage costs estimated at about 28 billion kip.
Residents and authorities described the disaster as they most devastating they have seen in Pakadding district’s Khonesong and Namthone villages, where families lost cattle and faced damage to rice paddies, houses and wells.
More than 50 people were affected by the flooding and landslides which occurred from last Sunday to Tuesday, bringing masses of sand from the river and burying agricultural areas and rice fields in the vicinity.
The landslide also hit the Namthone Bridge, a vital economic corridor which has since been reopened but is still undergoing repairs.
Long-term residents said they had encountered several disasters in the villages in the past, but none as serious as this.
Floodwaters rapidly came up to local houses and left a thick layer of sand in their wake.
Provincial disaster management office head, Mr Soukun Chiengsavang, said authorities were facing difficulties in recovery in the area, particularly because of food shortages and damages to water wells.
Source: Vientiane Times
August 5, 2013
