At Least 67 Die In What Vietnamese Gvn. Calls "Worst Flooding In Decades" - Reuters

THANH HOA, Vietnam - At least 67 people were killed or missing after a typhoon, floods and landslides cut power and closed roads in what officials in two Vietnamese provinces on Sunday described as some of the worst flooding in decades.

Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces in north-central Vietnam were hit hardest by torrential rains and strong winds in the aftermath of typhoon Lekima, which slammed into several provinces on Wednesday. "The people need urgent help, the flooding won't be over for 10 or 15 more days," Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on Sunday while visiting one of the disaster-struck areas.

Helicopters have dropped dry food supplies such as instant noodles to stranded villagers. Boats also delivered food and other emergency supplies provided by the Red Cross. Water levels receded in sunny weather, but that did not ease the predicament of thousands of villagers whose houses were completely submerged and they took refuge on rooftops and dykes.

"This may be the worst flooding since 1945," said Phan Dang Khoa, a Communist Party official in Thach Thanh district of Thanh Hoa where a dyke broke on the Buoi river, causing extensive flooding.

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