More than 580,000 people affected, at least 28 dead from floods in southern Laos

About 100,000 people are displaced. Damages to road network thwart rescue operations. Flooding affected 60,000 people living in 86 villages in Attapeu province and almost all the newly planted rice fields have been wiped out.

Vientiane (AsiaNews) – More than 580,000 people have been impacted and at least 28 have died in floods caused by heavy rains over the past two weeks in Laos’s southern provinces.

The floods are a result of Tropical storm Podul and tropical depression Kajiki slamming into the area one after the other. Rising waters damaged roads, cutting people off from government-led rescue and relief efforts.

The Jakarta-based ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Center (AHA Center), reported on 10 September that around 100,000 people have been displaced. Now that waters have receded, the authorities are assessing damages.

In Salavan province, one of the worst affected, an official from the provincial public works and transport department told Radio Free Asia’s Lao Service that the costs for replacing damaged roads in his province could reach US million.

in Attapeu province, 86 villages are flooded, affecting over 60,000 residents. The floods destroyed nearly all of the province’s newly planted rice fields. In Champassak province, 69 schools were flooded.

The head of Attapeu province’s administration office, Vienxay Xaysombath said the whole province still needed about 150 tonnes of food aid.

The AHA Center reported on 12 September 2019 that the Lao government allocated US4,000 for relief and aid missions for the flood victims.

• laos
• rains
• floods
• deaths
• relief
• rice paddies
• damage