One missing, six injured as Pabuk sweeps past southern Vietnam

By Hoang Hanh   January 4, 2019 | 04:27 am PT
One missing, six injured as Pabuk sweeps past southern Vietnam
Heavy rains triggered by storm Pabuk collapse many houses in Bac Lieu Province. Photo by VnExpress/An Nam
Torrential rains and strong winds triggered by storm Pabuk in several southern provinces have left at least one person missing and six others injured.

Heavy rains with waves six to seven meters high lashed Ca Mau Province on the country’s southern tip, sinking many fishing boats on Hon Chuoi Islet. One fisherman was reported missing.

Rainfall of up to 92 mm from Thursday also flooded several streets in the province.

In the neighboring Bac Lieu Province, downpours and gusty winds triggered by the tropical storm also collapsed 117 houses, causing initial damage estimated at VND5 billion ($215,625).

At least six people have been injured, four of them hospitalized and several infrastructure projects have been damaged in the province.

Pabuk has strengthened from tropical depression in the Truong Sa Archipelago and become the first tropical storm to form in Vietnamese waters in 2019.

The storm made landfall in southern Thailand Friday evening. The first tropical storm to hit Thailand in 30 years has left one fisherman dead when his boat capsized off the coast, and officials have warned of torrential downpours, landslides, flash floods and coastal waves up to five meters high.

Natural disasters, mostly flooding, tropical storms and landslides, killed 181 people and left 37 others missing in Vietnam in 2018, causing damage worth around VND20 trillion ($858 million), three times lower than 2017’s figure of VND60 trillion ($2.6 billion).

 
 
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