Two dead as heavy rains batter central Vietnam

By Xuan Hoa   December 9, 2018 | 07:07 pm PT
Two dead as heavy rains batter central Vietnam
People row a boat across a flooded street in Da Nang Sunday. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong
The heavy flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rains in central provinces have left at least two people dead and another injured.

The bodies of two women were found in Quang Tri Province Sunday morning after they were swept away by flash floods triggered by prolonged downpours during the weekend, the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said.

The victims were identified as Lu Thi Tu Anh, 63, and Nguyen Lu Van Anh, 35.

The northeast monsoon has been dumping huge amounts of rain on Vietnam’s third largest city, Da Nang and neighboring provinces such as Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien-Hue since Saturday, causing severe flooding.

In the 24 hours since 7 p.m. Saturday Da Nang received a record high 635 mm, the highest since archives were first available in 1975. Rainfall of above 180mm a day is considered heavy.

More than 2,000 students have been allowed to stay home since last Monday after many schools were submerged under up to a meter of water.

Traffic on the National Highway 1A across the neighboring Quang Nam Province was paralyzed as many parts were flooded by up to a meter.

The National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center has said the central region from Quang Binh to Binh Dinh Provinces would continue to be battered by heavy rains of up to 200 mm Monday.

Thua Thien-Hue, which is home to popular tourist destination Hue, and Quang Ngai Provinces are expected to get rainfall of up to 400 mm.

The government has sent an urgent dispatch to local authorities there urging them to take steps to prevent further flooding, casualties and loss of property.

In the first 10 months of this year natural disasters have left 185 people dead or missing and injured 134 others, and cost the country more than VND8.8 trillion ($381 million), according to the General Statistics Office.

 
 
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