VIENTIANE, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Six people were declared dead with a total of 916 households and 58 villages in five districts suffering damage from flooding in southern Laos, local daily Vientiane Times reported Friday.
Lao authorities have just updated the assessment of losses and damages after many parts of the country have been ravaged by flooding following recent torrential rain.
This latest report was given by provincial authorities at a meeting on Wednesday in Luang Prabang province, some 220 km north of Lao capital Vientiane, attended by Lao Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Khampheng Saysompheng and disaster prevention and control committee officials.
Authorities have delivered drinking water, household essentials and emergency supplies to assist those affected by the flooding.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Savankhone Razmountry and his delegation visited flooded areas in Khammuan and Savannakhet provinces in central Laos to survey the damage and hand over loudspeakers for use in flooded areas.
In Khammuan province, tropical storm Son-tinh unleashed torrents of rain and triggered flash floods in July. Some 378 villages in 10 districts of Khammuan province have been flooded to some extent, with many houses submerged and over 35,000 hectares of paddy fields inundated.
Provincial authorities and district officials discussed a joint partnership to protect villages at risk of flash flooding, particularly those located near riverbanks.
Savannakhet province was badly hit by tropical storms Son-tinh and Bebinca which brought heavy rain. Some 25,900 hectares of farmland in more than 400 villages have been affected with more than 34,000 hectares of crops flooded, and 60 irrigation systems and some dwellings damaged.
According to a former report dated to mid-August, flooding caused by recent storms in Laos has killed at least 46 people while 97 others are missing.
Some 82,460 families of 236,188 people in 79 districts of 14 provinces, out of the country's 18 provinces, were affected by floods after tropical storms Son-Tinh and Bebinca brought torrential rain from the middle of July to the middle of August.
