Hanoi, Aug. 9.
Although the waters of the swollen Red River subsided slightly here at Handi today, at several places the flood. waters continued rising, smashing through dykes, engulfing houses, threatening the lives of thousands of people.
The Red River this year rose suddenly, and before people living on its banks had even realized the impending menace, the river had broken its banks in several places. The waters at Hanoi rose to the record high level of 123 metres yesterday, and today subsided only eight centimetres.
You Caw'r WhrrEWASH a SHADOW.
Ten thousand people who lived on a sand bank near Hanoi fled barely in time on the night of August 6, when the river first rose to flood proportions. The people had time only to reach a nearby dyke, behind which they sought protection. Many were unable to take anything at all with them.
Seepage Through Dykes Anxiety was roused by reports that the river had even risen to alarming heights in the special canal built through the Bacninh rapids. Seepages through the dykes in that area were reported today, and the High Resident Officer of Tonkin to tired the region under his authority to see how best to counter the dangers of the ravaging flood.
The water level continued rising today at Tuyenquang, and houses in the low parts of the city are submerged. The main highway in the district is under water and cannot be used.
Despite efforts by the population to bolster the dykes at Vietri, the river broke through and today flowed over the Caoxo and Lanthuong districts. Railway tracks at Vietri were carried off by the sweeping waters.
More than 2000 coolies were mobile ized today for work on the Tancoc dykes along the Namdinh Canal, seven kilometres from the town of Namdinh.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.