HANOI, Nov 17, 2008 (AFP) - Vietnam issued an alert Monday for a tropical storm that was expected to pound the maritime region where its small offshore oil industry is concentrated. The communist government warned fishing vessels in the South China Sea to seek shelter as tropical storm Noul barrelled toward the coast, where it was due to make landfall later Monday. In an urgent message, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung ordered police, the coast guard and health services to stay on alert and be ready to evacuate residents. Vietnam has been hit by unseasonal rains and floods over recent weeks, and Noul is already the year's 10th storm.
Floods in central areas have left 12 people dead in recent days, while in early November the capital Hanoi and north-central provinces were hit by the worst rains and floods in 35 years, killing 82 people. Since last week central Vietnam has again been deluged by rain, while the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City has suffered its worst floods in 45 years. The floods in central and southern regions have killed at least 12 people since Thursday, including four children, emergency service officials said. One was a one-year-old who drowned in his own home, said Dang Thi Lanh of the provincial flood and storm control committee. "The other three children, aged between 13 and 17, were swept away in rivers when they came home after feeding their buffaloes," Lanh told AFP. Vietnam is lashed by typhoons and tropical storms from the South China Sea every year. Last year, more than 435 people were killed in seven major storms, which also displaced thousands and left vast areas of farmlands under water.
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