Floods kill at least 120 in Vietnam

Flooding in Vietnam which has so far killed 120 people (including eight children) has caused some damage to the SOS Children's Village in the capital, Hanoi. None of the children or mothers living in the SOS Children's Village were harmed.

Last friday, the first floor of all of our buildings at the SOS Children’s Village of Hanoi were completely submerged. Fortunately the buildings are two story and the mothers and children could take refuge upstairs. Now the waters have receded and the rains are gradually letting up, although it is too early for us to evaluate the extent of the damage to possessions and buildings. None of the other eleven SOS Children Villages in the country have been affected.

Elsewhere in the country, crops have been destroyed and the price of food has soared. Some 55,000 homes, as well as power stations, schools and offices remain submerged. In the badly-affected central province province of Nghe An, 12 people have been killed, including three children who were swept away while walking home from school.

Pham Quang Nghi, chief of the Hanoi branch of the ruling Communist Party said the natural disaster was the largest ever to affect Hanoi. Unfortunately, floods are a common occurrence in Vietnam, killing hundreds each year.

The floods have also affected China. In southwestern China's Yunnan province, mudslides caused by heavy rain killed at least 26 people and many are missing.

SOS Children first started working in Vietnam in 1969 and there are currently twelve SOS Children's Villages in Vietnam. Each SOS Village has around 100-200 orphaned children living in it.