Water levels are dropping in four southern provinces hit by recent flooding but food supplies and clean water are urgently needed to help affected households. According to the provincial Labour and Social Welfare Department” The effects are still too severe to evaluate the damage, but we need emergency drinking water and food to provide to the many people in need.
The provincial Labour and Social Welfare told our news team on Wednesday the 25th of September that, Flooding is having a severe effect here and many people need food, drinking water and cash to buy emergency materials. Early reports indicated 9,760 families in 200 villages across all 10 of Champassak’s districts had been affected by the floods. More than 10,000ha of farmland has suffered damage and thousands of livestock have died. Three deaths were recorded in the province as a result of the flooding.
The Xedon River there had dropped to 11.37m – still above its danger level of 10.3m. The effects are still too severe to evaluate the damage, but the provincial authorities need emergency drinking water and food to provide to the many people in need. All eight districts of the province were hit by flooding, with low-lying Khongxedon, Vapy and Saravan the worst affected.
In the three worst hit districts alone, 185 villages and more than 14,000 people had been affected, along with damage to 22,860ha of rice fields, 780ha of crops and more than 2,000 fishponds.
Xekong also needed supplies to help victims.official said,the Xekong River had dropped from its peak at 3m back to regular levels. Recent reports indicated more than 60 villages, 1,500 families and 450ha of farmland had been affected in Xekong’s Kalum and Lamam districts, while information was still being collected in Thataeng district.
In Attapeu, water levels had dropped by 50cm to 1.5m in many areas. It is now focusing on providing help to people in Sanamxay district, where the damage is worst. Floods in the district damaged 29 villages and 118ha of agricultural land.
The bad news might not be over for the south yet, with the Meteorology and Hydrology Department on Wednesday the 25th of September warning a low pressure system will move through the middle and southern parts of the country next week.
Meanwhile the monsoon in the southwest will continue to increase in strength, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. The department has issued a warning to residents and authorities to take precautions, including moving livestock and possessions to higher ground, securing rice stores, weighing down loose objects, stocking up on essential supplies and monitoring weather reports.
Source: LNTV Lao News in English
