Floods force closure of 18 schools in Vientiane province
Almost 3,000 students in Thoulakhom district, Vientiane province, are unable to go to school after floods swept through the district over the weekend. The inundation resulted from the release of water from the Nam Ngum I dam following torrential rain which filled the reservoir to danger levels.
The inundation resulted from the release of water from the Nam Ngum I dam following torrential rain which filled the reservoir to danger levels.
A total of 18 primary and secondary schools in 12 villages of the district, including Choum, Boungphao, Hadsuan, Tanpiew, Souksara, Hadxay, Phonpheng and Lingxan, have closed due to the flooding, according to a report from the district education office.
Meanwhile, some children cannot get to school because of flooded roads, office Head Mr Somwang Sibounheuang told Vientiane Times yesterday.
Lessons cannot resume until the floodwaters have receded as there are no other suitable facilities, he said.
This is the fourth round of flooding since tropical storm Haima hit Laos in late June triggering heavy rains, Mr Somwang said.
If there is no further rainfall over the next few days, some schools in the main town will be able to open next week, he said, such as the primary and secondary schools in Keun Neua and Tay villages.
However, schools in Hadsuan, Hadsiew, Tanpiew and Lingxan villages may have to wait until next month before the floodwaters recede.
Schools in Thoulakhom district, just like others nationwide, opened for the new academic year on September 1, only to be disrupted by more flooding.
According to Mr Somwang, about 30 percent of school age children in the district are not in school, while more will be put off by the flooding, which has affected more than 1,000 households.
Provincial authorities joined with district officials yesterday to present 5 tonnes of rice, 20,000 bottles of clean water, 10,000 bags of dried noodles and 5,000 cans of fish to families in need.
The public health sector had been directed to provide appropriate healthcare, said district Governor Mr Kongsy Oudom.
Thousands of hectares of rice and other crops along the Nam Ngum River downstream from the plant were ruined, racking up a damage bill of about 10 billion kip.
Families living along the river in Xaythany and Pakngum districts have also been affected, according to a report from district authorities.
Many rice crops in low-lying areas were flooded in central areas of the province following torrential rain last week, mainly in Naxaithong district.
Heavy rain will continue this week in Xayaboury, Luang Prabang and Borikhamxay provinces and in the capital because of a low pressure system dominating the region, according to the Meteorology and Hydrology Department.
Laos has endured its heaviest rains for 10 years this rainy season, with thousands of hectares of rice and other crops destroyed throughout the country.
Tropical storm Haima killed 17 people in the country’s northern provinces, while six people were killed by tropical storm Nock-Ten, which hit the central and southern provinces i n late July.
