Six dead, two missing as heavy rains break dams, pound central Vietnam

A tropical depression with wind speeds of up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour hit several central provinces  on Tuesday morning, triggering downpours and flash floods that have killed at least 6 people and left two others missing.

Nghe An Province has reported at least five deaths; two others are still missing, including a 4-year-old kid who was washed away by floodwater.

Flooding also submerged Vinh, the province's capital city, holding up traffic along the North-South Railway until noon.

Ga Dam in the province's Nghi Loc Commune, which forms a reservoir containing over 500,000 cubic meters of water, was overflown by about 200 meters (656 feet) and was on the verge of bursting. Local authorities had to mobilize 100 workers and three excavators to reinforce it.

Flood in Te Nong Commune, Thanh Hoa Province. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Son

In Thanh Hoa Province, at least one woman has died after being washed down a sewer on Monday noon.

While the depression has veered toward Laos, heavy rains are forecast to continue lashing northern and north-central Vietnam until Thursday, according to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting. Landslides and flash floods are also expected to occur in mountainous regions.

Vietnam has already suffered destructive stormy weather this year. Floods in northern Vietnam killed at least 26 people and washed away hundreds of homes in August before Typhoon Doksuri, the strongest to hit the country in years, killed at least eight people in the central region last month.

Last year, tropical storms and flooding killed 264 people in Vietnam and caused damage worth VND40 trillion ($1.75 billion), nearly five times more than in 2015.