PHÒNG CHỐNG BÃO ! – Prevent storm damage – Prévention des catastrophes naturelles

A violent cyclone carrying with it sand and rocks Saturday raged through a central Vietnamese province, annihilating at least 500 houses, injuring 20 people and leaving over one thousand homeless.From 4pm to 5pm, the whirlwind – clocking speeds of 150-180km per hour – blew down on three villages in Quang Nam province’s Dai Hong commune.Over 50 percent of houses in hardest-hit Duc Tinh village collapsed or had their roofs blown off.Trees and fields were left in a mess, transformed into a massive garbage dump by the unexpected weather. All electricity and telephone lines have been cut.Le Nam, a local, said the weather had been favorable, even beautiful. But around 4pm, dark clouds began to form, followed by fierce thunder and lightning, and the strong winds. His two-month-old girl was hit on the head by a large stone in the high winds. Ha Thi Bien was hiding under a table in her house when the structure was lifted into the air. She was struck in the head by an unidentified flying object and though she bled, she managed to crawl to the safety of a nearby bush.Many said the sudden storm was far fiercer than Typhoon Xangsane, which hit the region September last year. Xangsane was one of the destructive storms in Vietnamese history, causing nearly VND10 trillion (US$629 million) in damages and claiming over 70 lives nationwide. Nearby, Nguyen Thi Bon nearing 70 years old who lost her house to Xangsane and has since taken shelter at her daugher’s house, now witnessed that very last haven destroyed. Her daughter was hit by a collapsing pillar.Bui Quoc Cuong, vice chairman of the commune government said over 1,000 poor farmers here would have to sleep roofless for some time to come.Source: Thanh Nien – Translated by A.N.O.NPublished: 15 April, 2007, 12:52:47 (GMT+7)