Typhoon heads toward Hue...

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Hi all please pass along any information you hear from this area especially from danang. we've beening trying to get contact to Danang but no luck and all the news report shows song han over the banks

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Thanks Jim, from scanning the news sites its looks like the devesating flooding seen in PI did not happen here. thank goodness.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks Jim, from scanning the news sites its looks like the devesating flooding seen in PI did not happen here. thank goodness.

There is some flooding in Vietnam. The extent of the flooding and damage isn't known yet because news media are not allowed to crawl all over the country in Vietnam the way they do in the Philippines.

Here's another video from ABC in Australia.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

update: Just called my wife and family in danang. electricity and telephone are back. streets are still pretty bad with fallen trees and debris strewn all over the place. Thanh khe district looks to be ok. Hoa Cuong nam by song han and tuyen son bridge was flooded about 2 meters. today's weather is sunny and warm and city is starting to cleanup and recover from the storm.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

According to this Reuters video on Yahoo, the Citadel in Hue is flooded.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4...476〈=en

The Citadel is surrounded by a moat, and is adjacent to the Perfume River, so the river must be over it's banks. This is very bad news. Hue is on relatively flat ground, with most of the city at the same altitude as the river banks.

The attached AP photo shows people walking through a street in Hue on Tuesday. I imagine most of the city is probably like this, or at least was on Tuesday. Phuong's home is elevated by about 2 feet. With a little luck, the water wasn't high enough to flood her house. I haven't been able to get through to her this morning. I don't know if she's been able to charge her cell phone. I don't know if Hue has any electricity.

My friend Van talked to his brother in Thuan An village yesterday. Everyone is ok; his family, Phuong's family, Phong's family. Most of them went to Phong's parent's home, which has a steel reinforced concrete roof. Van's brother lost the roof on his home. Phuong and I were in his brother's home last month for his daughter's engagement ceremony. Van said the damage in Thuan An is severe.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Glad to hear first that everyone is safe. disheartened to hear about the citadel with all the old artifacts and history in danger. Over in Danang, the mood (from my wife and family at least) does not seem to be worrisome. Three more pacifice storms are headed within the next 1-2 weeks. I think one of them looks to be tracking hard north after PI.

The boy in the picture almost looks like he is smiling

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Glad to hear first that everyone is safe. disheartened to hear about the citadel with all the old artifacts and history in danger. Over in Danang, the mood (from my wife and family at least) does not seem to be worrisome. Three more pacifice storms are headed within the next 1-2 weeks. I think one of them looks to be tracking hard north after PI.

The boy in the picture almost looks like he is smiling

Yeah, both of the kids look like they're having fun. If the parents don't act like they're worried, then the kids usually won't worry. This is probably an adventure for them. I remember being in Southern California during the Sylmar quake. My daughter was just a baby then. She didn't start to cry until she saw my wife (now ex-wife) was worried. It's really hard to do, but I think it's important for parents to act strong in front of their kids during a crisis.

Just talked to Phuong on the phone. Mobile phone service is working good again. No electricity in Hue. The city is pretty much flooded. There is a little water in her home, so the extra 2 ft. of concrete made a difference. She's got food and drinkable water, so they're staying in her home again. The roof held up.

The bad news is that she was going to send her DS-230's and DS-2001 to the consulate on Monday. Her son in-law helped her correct some mistakes I'd made on Saturday. We knew there would be some bumps in the road on this journey, but we didn't expect one of the biggest road blocks to come from Mother Nature.

I think the Citadel will be ok. The buildings shouldn't be harmed much. The walls are all stone, but the roofs may have lost some tiles. Most of the really precious artifacts are in buildings that are elevated by at least 6 ft. I remember climbing up and down those damn stairs at each building. The courtyard where we dressed up like Nguyen dynasty royalty is probably a swamp, though.

[lindal24 1]

update: Just called my wife and family in danang. electricity and telephone are back. streets are still pretty bad with fallen trees and debris strewn all over the place. Thanh khe district looks to be ok. Hoa Cuong nam by song han and tuyen son bridge was flooded about 2 meters. today's weather is sunny and warm and city is starting to cleanup and recover from the storm.

Which bridge are you talking about in Da Nang? The new bridge or the rotating bridge?? When I went there to DaNang early September 2009, the first day we stepped foot on land in the AM it was already raining and never let up. That night, the streets were all flooded. Poor taxi guy's car died in the water and he had to push it...poor us, we had to walk about a mile back to our hotel because the streets were all flooded and no taxis would dare go through them!

[cavoi xanh1 0]

update: Just called my wife and family in danang. electricity and telephone are back. streets are still pretty bad with fallen trees and debris strewn all over the place. Thanh khe district looks to be ok. Hoa Cuong nam by song han and tuyen son bridge was flooded about 2 meters. today's weather is sunny and warm and city is starting to cleanup and recover from the storm.

Which bridge are you talking about in Da Nang? The new bridge or the rotating bridge?? When I went there to DaNang early September 2009, the first day we stepped foot on land in the AM it was already raining and never let up. That night, the streets were all flooded. Poor taxi guy's car died in the water and he had to push it...poor us, we had to walk about a mile back to our hotel because the streets were all flooded and no taxis would dare go through them!

Hi Linda-

tuyen son must be the new bridge since it is not the rotating bridge which is off bach dang. Tuyen Son bridge takes you directly to Son Tra road around where Futurama resort is. My first experience with the rainy season was last November for our wedding. It rained 19 of 21 days but cleared up beautifully on the day we scheduled for photos and two laters on the day of hte wedding

[cavoi xanh1 0]

According to this Reuters video on Yahoo, the Citadel in Hue is flooded.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4...476〈=en

The Citadel is surrounded by a moat, and is adjacent to the Perfume River, so the river must be over it's banks. This is very bad news. Hue is on relatively flat ground, with most of the city at the same altitude as the river banks.

The attached AP photo shows people walking through a street in Hue on Tuesday. I imagine most of the city is probably like this, or at least was on Tuesday. Phuong's home is elevated by about 2 feet. With a little luck, the water wasn't high enough to flood her house. I haven't been able to get through to her this morning. I don't know if she's been able to charge her cell phone. I don't know if Hue has any electricity.

My friend Van talked to his brother in Thuan An village yesterday. Everyone is ok; his family, Phuong's family, Phong's family. Most of them went to Phong's parent's home, which has a steel reinforced concrete roof. Van's brother lost the roof on his home. Phuong and I were in his brother's home last month for his daughter's engagement ceremony. Van said the damage in Thuan An is severe.

All this talk and news of Hue and Danang makes me miss vietnam. I'm glad the worst of it is over. Several regions hit by Ketsana and two earthquakes yesterday. Brings life back to perspective and all our 'troubles' with HCM and visa process seem so trivial...

I pray and fast for all and for peace to all the trouble and suffering we each face big and small...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Electricity is back on in parts of Hue. Phuong actually had internet access for a little while this morning. We got to chat for all of three sentences before it dropped out again. Apparently, they've got most of the mud cleared out of her house. She's reopening the school again tomorrow, so life is gradually returning to normal.

Things are not as good on the coast. The waters have receded quickly in Thuan An, but there is still a lot of mud in the homes. It's going to take a lot more time to clean up.

Typhoon Parma is now east of the Philippines. If it stays on it's current track it will brush the northern part of the main island, and then head for Southern China. Fortunately, Parma isn't carrying as much water as Ketsana, but it does have stronger winds than Ketsana did at this point.

[BinhJerome 14]

Electricity is back on in parts of Hue. Phuong actually had internet access for a little while this morning. We got to chat for all of three sentences before it dropped out again. Apparently, they've got most of the mud cleared out of her house. She's reopening the school again tomorrow, so life is gradually returning to normal.

Things are not as good on the coast. The waters have receded quickly in Thuan An, but there is still a lot of mud in the homes. It's going to take a lot more time to clean up.

Typhoon Parma is now east of the Philippines. If it stays on it's current track it will brush the northern part of the main island, and then head for Southern China. Fortunately, Parma isn't carrying as much water as Ketsana, but it does have stronger winds than Ketsana did at this point.

Glad to hear the worst seems to be over and that she is okay.

Jerome and Binh

[SuperDuper! 230]

wow...that looks like a big one!!!

There is even a bigger one hitting manila right now. A super dooper one in fact

[BinhJerome 14]

wow...that looks like a big one!!!

There is even a bigger one hitting manila right now. A super dooper one in fact

Last I heard this one is going to miss Vietnam, I hope so I will arrive there the 8th