Floods isolate villages in central Vietnam

Quang Binh, home to world's largest cave Son Doong, experienced heavy rains triggered by a tropical depression Monday night through Tuesday morning.

Routes connecting villages and communes in Minh Hoa, Tuyen Hoa and Quang Ninh districts were flooded by water levels 1-2 meters deep.

Rockslides also caused traffic jams on National Highways 15 and 9B.

The Quang Binh Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue said thousands of families in 18 villages had been isolated by the floods, and people were forced to use boats to travel around.

"On the night of September 25, authorities cooperated with border guards to help dozens of families in flooded areas relocate with their belongings and move to shelters," said a representative from Dan Hoa Commune in Minh Hoa District.

To the north of Quang Binh in Ha Tinh Province, a bridge over the Ngan Sau River in Huong Khe District was inundated by up to a meter of water at certain points on Tuesday.

Authorities erected warning signs to stop people and vehicles from passing through the area.

The Huong Khe District Department of Education and Training had to cancel school for over 4,000 kindergarten to secondary students.

The long-lasting rains caused rockslides on National Highway 8A in Huong Son District.

Rocks and soil from mountain slopes tumbled down onto the road, paralyzing traffic in the area.

Personnel and heavy machinery deployed by local authorities had the rubble cleared away by noon.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said the tropical depression had weakened and moved over Laos on Tuesday morning, but its accompanying weather patterns were still causing widespread rains.

Meteorologists predicted that localities from the north-central province of Thanh Hoa to Quang Binh would see rain levels of between 200-450 mm on Wednesday, while regions further south from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai would see rain levels between 50-150 mm. Other areas of south-central Vietnam, the Central Highlands and southern Vietnam would see rain levels between 40-80 mm, according to forecasts.

The north-central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh may experience floods on Wednesday as well, according to the center.