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HO CHI MINH CITY, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Cold spells, rainstorms and whirlwinds in Vietnam in the first half months of this year left 34 people dead or missing, 118 others injured, and caused property losses of 1,400 billion Vietnamese dong (62.2 million U.S. dollars), the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Friday.
Meanwhile, the natural disasters, excluding drought and saltwater intrusion, destroyed over 900 houses, damaged 35,700 others, damaged 19,600 hectares of paddy rice, 13,000 hectares of other crops and 2,000 hectares of aquaculture ponds, and killed over 17,000 cattle, 12,700 poultry and over 730 tons of fish and prawns.
In the first six months of this year, the prolonged drought and saltwater encroachment in Vietnam's central and southern regions made 385,800 households suffer shortages of water for domestic use, and severely affected agricultural production. They caused property losses of some 15,200 billion Vietnamese dong (675.6 million U.S. dollars).
In the first half of last year, all kinds of natural disasters in Vietnam left 46 people dead or missing, 55 others injured, destroyed over 270 houses, damaged 11,100 houses, 18,000 hectares of paddy rice and other crops, and caused losses of 474.3 billion Vietnamese dong (21.1 million U.S. dollars). Enditem
