The powerful,
unexpected and unusual Typhoon No.5, also known as Linda, tore through the
Mekong Delta, rarely hit by storms, during the night of November 2, 1997, PM
Phuc said in the message.
The typhoon caused heavy losses of life and severe property damages, especially
for Ca Mau province, he recalled, adding that thousands of fishermen and boats
sank at sea while many houses and regional infrastructure were destroyed.
Two decades later, the pain of families who lost kith and kin in the storm is
still there and on behalf of the government, Phuc extends his deepest
condolences and sympathies to all affected people. He also acknowledges the
efforts made by soldiers and disaster response forces in providing relief to
the victims.
The PM went on to say that natural disasters have become much more complicated
and hard to be predicted in recent years while climate change impacts, forest
degradation in coastal protected areas, erosion and sea level rise are among
factors increasing vulnerability when natural disasters hit the delta.
"As lessons learnt from Typhoon Linda, I call on people, soldiers and disaster
response forces nationwide, including from the Mekong Delta, to be vigilant,
get prepared for and proactive in response to natural disasters so as to
minimize losses,” he wrote.
Natural disasters in Vietnam have killed hundreds of people and destroyed
thousands of houses, causing an economic loss of over 35 trillion VND (1.54
billion USD) since the beginning of this year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, heavy rains and
floods on August 2-3 and October 9-
Source: VOV
Powered by ICT GROUP.
