Dam discharge worsens flooding havoc in central Vietnam province

On Saturday, although the floodwaters triggered by heavy rains over the past four days started receding, many villages in hardest-hit Cam Thuy, a mountainous district to the northwest of Thanh Hoa, were still submerged in muddy waters. Tran Duc Luong, vice chairman of the district, said the floods have isolated many villages and towns, inflicting great misery on local residents.

As of Saturday, flash floods in Thanh Hoa had left six people dead and seven others missing, collapsed 120 houses, washed away three suspension bridges and inundated the houses of nearly 4,600 families.

The flooding, considered the worst in years, hit people with almost no warning. Many residents barely managed to save their lives and had no time to take out any of their belongings. They blamed their plight on the heavy downpours and water discharge by local hydropower dams. Thanh Hoa and its neighbor Nghe An have received heavy rainfall of more than 200 millimeters over the past days.

A secondary school in Cam Son Ward was under water a meter high, and many school equipment, tables and chairs were damaged.

A public office under construction was also submerged by the floodwaters.

A man sits on a house that has been submerged fully except for the roof.

A family of four members were unable to return to their home after the floods, but had to stay temporarily at a church in the district.

Many roads to the district were flooded, making access difficult.

Local police forces used motorboats and even jet skis to search for missing people and deliver food to those isolated by the floods.

Back home after being forced out by the floods, a woman tries to clean up.