HANOI - Vietnam’s disaster authority said in a July 19 update that floods and landslides had killed five people in Lai Châu.
Three people remained missing and ten were injured, according to the authority’s 3 p.m. update. Across Lai Châu, Lào Cai, Điện Biên and Sơn La, 28 houses collapsed, 307 were damaged and 122 households required emergency relocation. Local authorities were still reviewing the losses.
Mường Than Commune in Lai Châu was the worst-affected area after a flash flood struck on July 17. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said the disaster affected 899 households with 4,263 residents across five villages. Authorities evacuated 1,686 people to safer areas and mobilised more than 1,000 personnel for searches, rescue work and debris clearance.
Lai Châu declared a natural-disaster emergency in Mường Than and at other high-risk landslide sites. Eleven excavators and other heavy equipment were assigned to reopen roads, clear waterways and support rescue teams. The ministry said electricity had largely been restored in the affected area by July 19.
Lai Châu People’s Committee Chairman Hà Quang Trung said, “The rainfall from July 15 to 18 was assessed as the most serious since the start of the year.”
Rainfall reached 583mm in Pắc Ta, the highest total cited in the ministry’s July 19 field report. The disaster authority forecast further heavy rain through the night of July 20, with isolated totals above 250mm and intense bursts exceeding 100mm in three hours.
Floods and landslides damaged 699.1 hectares of rice and other crops and caused collapses along national, provincial and local roads. Some sections of National Highway 32 in Lai Châu and routes in Lào Cai remained blocked. The disaster authority estimated losses at VNĐ271.64 billion, including VNĐ190 billion in Lai Châu.
Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng on July 17 directed northern provinces to identify communities exposed to flash floods and landslides and move residents away from riverbanks, steep slopes and other dangerous areas.
The order also instructed officials to control traffic at flooded or collapsed roads and prepare emergency personnel and equipment.
Lai Châu asked the central government to provide rice for affected residents for one to three months and VNĐ116 billion for recovery in Mường Than. Provincial officials said the requested funding would support housing repairs, restore essential infrastructure and relocate 82 households from Chít and Sắp Ngụa villages, where homes remained exposed to danger.
