The death toll following flash floods in central Vietnam has risen to 89, authorities said yesterday, with 18 people still missing and 174 others treated for their injuries.
Khanh Hoa province, home to the popular beach resort city of Nha Trang, reported 37 dead, followed by Quang Nam province with 15 dead, Vietnam’s National Committee for Search and Rescue said in the report to the government.
More than half of Hoi An’s ancient town, a Unesco World Heritage site that is home to buildings dating back as far as 600 years, saw water levels peak at 4m on Monday, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Flood Control reported. Water levels were still at 1.5m yesterday, the Central Steering Committee said.
With transportation largely cut off, thousands of tourists have been trapped in the area since Saturday. Typhoon Damrey made landfall on Saturday with winds of up to 135km per hour. Regional rainfall of up to 1,700mm has been recorded in the past week, the committee added, while it warns of heavy rain to come in the next 24 hours.
Rain is expected to ease off from tomorrow. The storm damaged 121,000 houses, killed nearly 10,000 cows, knocked down power lines and uprooted trees. Ten cargo ships and nearly 1,300 fishing boats have sunk. The national road linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is still between 0.4 and 1m underwater, blocking road traffic between the country’s two most important cities.
Authorities are sending more than 16,000 soldiers to take part in search-and-rescue operations, Vietnam’s National Committee for Search and Rescue said, adding that more than 40,000 people have been evacuated. Hue, the old imperial capital, was also flooded.
A woman clears mud in a village in Quang Nam yesterday after the area was flooded by rains brought by Typhoon Damrey at the weekend.
