Flooding in Vietnam has killed at least 10 people this week as the water level of a major river near tourist landmarks reached a 60-year high, authorities said yesterday.
Vietnam’s coastal provinces, home to UNESCO world heritage site Hoi An ancient town, have been pummeled by heavy rain since the weekend, with a record of up to 1.7m falling over 24 hours.
At least 10 people have been killed, while eight others are missing, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said.
Photo: AFP
More than 128,000 houses in five central provinces have been inundated, with water 3m deep in some areas.
People waded through waist-deep water in the flooded streets of Hoi An yesterday and the ground floors of shops were submerged, a journalist said.
Several kilometers of roads have been damaged or blocked by flooding and landslides this week, with more than 5,000 hectares of crops destroyed and more than 16,000 cattle dead, the ministry said.
Photo: AFP
Flood levels at a measuring station on the Thu Bon River, which flows through Danang and empties into the sea at Hoi An, “surpassed the historic level in 1964 by 4cm, reaching 5.62m” late on Wednesday, the national weather bureau said.
“Normally the flooding lasts only three days and then we can start cleaning up,” Danang resident Le Thi Thi said. “I don’t think I ever experienced this prolonged and terribly high flooding in my life.”
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