Flooding death toll rises to six in central Vietnam

In Ha Tinh Province, three people died; in Quang Binh, one died and one was missing; in Thua Thien-Hue Province, one person was swept away by floods; in Quang Nam Province, three went missing; and in Nghe An Province, one died and five went missing after a ship sank, according to the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention.

It said that about 15,000 houses in the central region have been flooded and over 3,700 people evacuated.

Rainfall of between 20-40 mm in 12 hours affected provinces from Nghe An to Quang Tri Thursday night as a tropical convergence zone affected the area.

On Tuesday, tropical depression Kaijiki made landfall in the area between Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam provinces with wind speeds of 40-50 kph, causing downpours of up to 530 mm, triggering severe flooding and landslides in the region, before moving towards the sea and weakening.

Last year in Vietnam natural disasters, mostly floods, storms and landslides, killed 181 people and left 37 others missing and caused losses of around VND20 trillion ($858 million).