HUE, Vietnam: Thousands of people in Vietnam were evacuated from their homes after record rainfall of more than one meter in 24 hours submerged a central city, the environment ministry said Tuesday.
Three measuring stations in the city of Hue recorded rainfall from one meter to 1.7 meters (five feet seven inches) in a 24-hour period from Sunday to Monday, the ministry said in a statement.
The previous 24-hour rain record was 0.99 meters, set in Hue in 1999, it said.
Heavy rainfall has inundated Vietnam’s central coastal region since the weekend, closing schools and flooding the former imperial city of Hue, a UNESCO world heritage site.
More than 8,600 people in four central provinces were evacuated to schools and other public buildings since Saturday due to risks from severe flooding and landslides, according to the environment ministry.
“This was the biggest flood I have experienced, with water levels in my house about 40 centimeters higher than that of 1999,” said 56-year-old Hue resident Tran Anh Tuan.
“My ground floor is under about two meters of floodwaters. We had moved all essential furniture upstairs. We have been in the dark over a day as power was cut off,” Tuan said from his three-story house in central Hue.
An image published by state media on Monday showed a room in a main hospital in the city flooded with murky water and two patients seated on gurneys.
Tourists in ancient Hoi An town were pictured in state media navigating narrow streets in boats while AFP journalists saw authorities evacuate several people from heavily flooded areas.
“The level of natural disaster risk due to flash floods and landslides is at the highest level,” said Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, according to a government website.
More rain was forecast for the central provinces into Wednesday, he added.
Some schools were closed in the cities of Hue and Danang beginning Saturday while the railway linking the country’s north and south saw delays due to flooding.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events like storms and floods more deadly and destructive.
Vietnam’s mountainous north and capital Hanoi were under severe flooding in early October following typhoons Bualoi and Matmo.
Natural disasters, mostly storms, floods and landslides, left 187 people dead or missing in the Southeast Asian nation in the first nine months of this year.
Total economic losses were estimated at more than $610 million, the General Statistics Office said.
Thousands evacuated in Vietnam after record rain triggers floods
https://arab.news/n5ev5
Thousands evacuated in Vietnam after record rain triggers floods
- Heavy rainfall has inundated Vietnam’s central coastal region since the weekend
- More than 8,600 people in four central provinces were evacuated since Saturday
Muslim World League commits resources to help victims of Indonesia flooding
- Floods, landslides on Sumatra island killed more than 800 people and injured 4,200 others
- Al-Issa is in Jakarta this week for meetings with Indonesian officials, religious leaders
JAKARTA: The Muslim World League is ready to mobilize its resources to support relief efforts in Indonesia, its chief said on Friday during a visit to the Southeast Asian country, which was recently hit by its most devastating floods and landslides in decades.
At least 867 people were killed and more than 4,200 others injured after the disasters inundated three provinces on Indonesia’s Sumatra island in late November.
More than 121,000 homes were destroyed and more than 1,100 public infrastructure sites were severely affected in about 50 cities and regencies in the region, where emergency support has been limited due to the collapse of roads and bridges. About 1.1 million people were displaced at one point and for days communities were cut off from basic supplies, power and communication.
“I conveyed my sincere condolences to H.E. for the victims of the recent devastating floods and landslides across various regions of the Republic,” MWL Secretary-general Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa said on X, following his meeting with President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
“Furthermore, I confirmed the MWL’s commitment to mobilizing all its resources to provide relief and support to those impacted by this terrible calamity.”
Despite offers from several countries and international organizations, Indonesia is not accepting international humanitarian aid, as the central government has yet to declare the Sumatra floods a national emergency,
Al-Issa arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday at the invitation of the Indonesian government for meetings with officials and religious leaders.
On Saturday, he is scheduled to attend talks on interreligious harmony alongside Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar.
The MWL is an international non-government Islamic organization founded in Saudi Arabia in 1962. Its work is focused on promoting and clarifying the worldwide understanding of Islam, with headquarters in Makkah and offices around the world.
Din Syamsuddin, former chairman of Indonesia’s second-biggest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, told Arab News that Al-Issa’s visit brought a “positive message” to promote global unity in the Muslim world.
“We see the visit as an appreciation for Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, where there is unity and harmony amid religious and ethnic diversity,” he said.
“In the context of the visit of the secretary-general of the Muslim World League, from Indonesia we would like to call on Muslims around the world to unite. (The MWL) has a strategic and central role to play for this purpose.”
