Tornado sweeps away 450 houses, 2 people die

This morning, a violent tornado swept through four districts in the two provinces of Bac Lieu and Soc Trang, damaging nearly 450 houses. Two people died and dozens were injured when walls collapsed on them.



A corrugated iron roof flew off a house and got caught in an electric wire along Highway 1A in Soc Trang. Photo: Thien Phuoc

At around 6am on August 1, heavy rain accompanied by violent storms swept through Vinh Phu Dong commune of Phuoc Long district, extending to Ninh Quoi A, Ninh Hoa, Ninh Thanh Loi and Loc Ninh communes of Hong Dan district (Bac Lieu), damaging over 120 houses. Of these, nearly 50 houses collapsed completely and a wall fell on Mrs. Phan Thi Be (76 years old) in Vinh Phu Dong commune (Phuoc Long, Bac Lieu) and killed her.

Mr. Lai Thanh An - Chief of Office of Flood and Storm Prevention Command of Bac Lieu province - said that Vinh Phu Dong commune suffered the most damage because up to 60 houses were damaged. In Ninh Thanh Loi commune, 3 people were injured when their houses collapsed.



Mr. Phung's brick house and rice mill in Thanh Quoi commune (My Xuyen, Soc Trang) completely collapsed. Photo: Thien Phuoc

At nearly 7am, two neighboring districts of Soc Trang province, Thanh Tri and My Xuyen, were also affected by the storm while it was raining heavily. At this time, people in Phu Loc town and Thanh Quoi commune heard deafening wind, hundreds of houses had their roofs blown off, and walls collapsed with a loud bang.

“My family had just managed to hide under the bed when the tornado destroyed the house. A few seconds later, the rice mill behind it also collapsed completely, but fortunately no one was injured because the workers had not yet started working,” said Mr. Ho Van Phung in Thanh Quoi commune (My Xuyen, Soc Trang).

Along Highway 1A, many electric poles were crooked, and ancient trees were uprooted and felled. Dozens of corrugated iron sheets flew off houses and dangled from electric wires, and hundreds of people rushed to take their relatives to the emergency room.



On the morning of July 1, more than 30 people injured by a tornado that caused their houses to collapse were taken to Thanh Tri District General Hospital (Soc Trang) for emergency treatment. Photo: Thien Phuoc

At Thanh Tri District General Hospital, at 8:30 a.m., 34 people were brought in because of collapsed houses causing broken heads, arms, and legs... In Phu Tan hamlet of Phu Loc town, one person died after a wall fell on him while he was visiting a neighbor.

According to preliminary statistics from Thanh Tri and My Xuyen districts, as of 11am today, 311 houses were damaged, of which 96 were completely collapsed. In addition to the deceased, Tieu Thanh Sang (33 years old), Phu Loc town had over 30 injured people and Thanh Phu commune had 14 injured people.

Speaking to VnExpress.net, Mr. Ngo Hoang Thanh - Chairman of Phu Loc Town People's Committee - said that the household with the deceased received temporary support of 4.5 million VND, each injured person received 1.5 million VND.

According to Vnexpress - NT