82 dead in Vietnam floods

Waters still receding, death toll could go higher

HANOI, Vietnam - The death toll from northern Vietnam’s floods and landslides rose to 82 after 20 more bodies were recovered, officials said Sunday. Seven more bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Lao Cai, bringing the death toll there to 32, said disaster official Pham Van Toan. Four more bodies were discovered in the neighboring Yen Bai province and one more body was found in Phu Tho, officials said.Flash floods and landslides have also claimed at least eight lives in Ha Giang province, raising the overall death toll to 82, said provincial disaster official Hoang Manh Hung.Another 37 people were reported missing.“The water is receding but very slowly,” said official Luong Tuan Anh of Yen Bai province, where 29 people died. “Many villages remain unreachable by car.”“We expect the death toll to rise because rescue workers have just begun to reach affected areas, where communication was very limited.Rampaging waters have also knocked down trees, electricity pylons and washed away houses. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate to higher ground.
Vietnam is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.

Deadly floods hit Romania, Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, centre, speaks to inhabitants of flooded village Serebriya, western Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2008. Ukraine's Emergency Ministry says storms and floods have killed 22 people, including six children, after four days of storms have flooded more than 20,000 houses and cut electricity in four western regions. More than 8,000 people have been evacuated, and thousands are in serious danger as the water keeps rising Sunday.A woman walks through a flooded street in the village of Siretu, about 300 km (200 miles) north of Bucharest, July 28, 2008. Floods in northeastern Romania have killed four people, and two others are missing.

1 Dead in N.H. Storms That Levels Several Homes

1 dead in N.H. storms that levels several homes; door-to-door search under wayViolent storms on Thursday in a 25-mile-long swath of central New Hampshire destroyed several homes, damaged dozens of others and left at least one person dead, authorities said as police and firefighters went door-to-door searching for more possible victims. Other people were hurt, including the husband and baby grandson of the woman killed. Gov. John Lynch said at an evening news conference that about a dozen people were injured. There was no immediate word on how serious their injuries were.The National Weather Service was trying to determine whether a tornado was responsible for the damage, which stretched from about 10 miles east of Concord to beyond the eastern end of Lake Winnipesaukee near the Maine border.Around Northwood Lake in Epsom, many homes in one area were badly damaged or destroyed by the storm, which tossed couches and refrigerators along with downed trees and other debris.

Tight Security A Month From Earth Quake

A month on from the Sichuan earthquake, Chinese officials have imposed tight security in some of the damaged areas, apparently to prevent protests.

Police in the city of Dujianyan stopped parents from holding a memorial ceremony at the rubble of a collapsed school where their children died. Journalists were told they were banned from the city, and some were detained. Parents have been demanding to know whether poorly-built schools played a part in the deaths of their children. Thousands of schoolchildren were among the 87,000 people killed or missing after the massive 12 May earthquake.Five million people also lost their homes, and officials estimate rebuilding work will take at least three years.