Flooding death toll rises to 10 in Vietnam

By Staff reporters   August 19, 2018 | 07:56 pm PT
Flooding death toll rises to 10 in Vietnam
People in Nghe An Province row a boat to wade through a flooded area triggered by heavy rains. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Binh
At least 10 people have died and two are missing in Vietnam after typhoon Bebinca made landfall.

Though the tropical storm turned into a tropical depression as it made landfall on the north central province of Thanh Hoa on Friday morning, the torrential rains it brought sparked flooding and landslides in many parts of the region and the northern highlands.

Nghe An Province has suffered the most in terms of human casualties, with at least six killed as of Sunday night, the Vietnam's government news website reported, citing a source with the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Neighboring Thanh Hoa Province has so far reported two deaths while two people have been confirmed dead in the northern mountainous province of Son La.

Many districts in Nghe An have received heavy rainfall of between 180 to 250 millimeters since Thursday night, leaving many mountainous villages submerged.

Thousands of students in the province are unlikely to start their new school year on schedule this week.

Le Thanh An, head of the Education Department in Nghe An’s Con Cuong District, said several schools were submerged under water as high as a meter as of Sunday morning, damaging tables, chairs and school equipment.

He hoped that the floodwaters would recede quickly so that schools and local authorities could clean up the mess and allow students to get back to classes soon.

Torrential rain also flooded many national highways and paralyzed traffic in several districts in Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and the northern highlands' Yen Bai.

Vietnam was struck by a record-breaking number of 16 tropical storms in 2017 that left 389 people dead or missing and injured 668 others, mostly in northern and central regions. Damrey, one of the most destructive storms last year, hit the country in November and killed at least 106 people.

 
 
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