Typhoon death toll rises to 15

DANANG – Disheartened residents returned to Vietnam’s battered central coast yesterday to inspect damage wrought by Typhoon Xangsane as the country’s death toll rose to 15, with one missing and nearly 600 others injured, officials said.

The overall toll from the storm stood at 91 – with 76 killed and 69 left missing in the Philippines last week before the typhoon barrelled into Vietnam and weakened into a tropical storm on Sunday. “The areas in the typhoon’s direct path looked like they were just bombarded by B-52s,” said Nguyen Ngoc Quang, deputy provincial governor of the coastal province of Quang Nam.Quang Nam and the key port city of Danang bore the brunt of the damage.The most unfortunate found their homes demolished; the lucky ones discovered they still had foundations upon which to rebuild.Virtually everyone along the coast from Danang to the ancient city of Hoi An will have some rebuilding to do.”When I returned home, there was nothing left,” said Pham Thi Thanh of Son Tra District in Danang.”Luckily, all my four family members are safe.”In Danang alone, nine people were killed and the damage was estimated at 3,2 trillion dong, according to a report by the city’s government.Officials had yet to tally damages in other provinces.The typhoon killed one person each in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Binh and Quang Tri.Further south, in Binh Dinh province, where the winds from the storm weren’t as strong, three boys aged 11 to 13 drowned while swimming during the storm.A fourth boy was still missing, disaster officials in these provinces said.In Quang Nam, where some 61 000 people were evacuated ahead of the typhoon, 3 700 houses were destroyed and 132 000 others were damaged, said Quang, the deputy provincial governor.Soldiers were mobilised to help villagers clean up and repair their homes.Quang said the provincial government will give 2 million dong to each family whose house was destroyed and 1 million dong to each family whose home was badly damaged.Nampa-AP”The areas in the typhoon’s direct path looked like they were just bombarded by B-52s,” said Nguyen Ngoc Quang, deputy provincial governor of the coastal province of Quang Nam.Quang Nam and the key port city of Danang bore the brunt of the damage.The most unfortunate found their homes demolished; the lucky ones discovered they still had foundations upon which to rebuild.Virtually everyone along the coast from Danang to the ancient city of Hoi An will have some rebuilding to do.”When I returned home, there was nothing left,” said Pham Thi Thanh of Son Tra District in Danang.”Luckily, all my four family members are safe.”In Danang alone, nine people were killed and the damage was estimated at 3,2 trillion dong, according to a report by the city’s government.Officials had yet to tally damages in other provinces.The typhoon killed one person each in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Binh and Quang Tri.Further south, in Binh Dinh province, where the winds from the storm weren’t as strong, three boys aged 11 to 13 drowned while swimming during the storm.A fourth boy was still missing, disaster officials in these provinces said.In Quang Nam, where some 61 000 people were evacuated ahead of the typhoon, 3 700 houses were destroyed and 132 000 others were damaged, said Quang, the deputy provincial governor.Soldiers were mobilised to help villagers clean up and repair their homes.Quang said the provincial government will give 2 million dong to each family whose house was destroyed and 1 million dong to each family whose home was badly damaged.Nampa-AP