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Massive floods hit Central Vietnam after extreme northeast monsoon dumps record-breaking rain

vietnam-floods-december-2018

Severe flooding caused by extreme northeast monsoon hit Central Vietnam, including the city of Da Nang, regional commercial and educational center over the past couple of days, leaving tens of thousands of homes flooded, at least 14 people dead and one missing. Parts of the region received record-breaking rains.

Unseasonable heavy rain started falling over the region on Saturday, December 8, worst affecting Binh Dinh Province where rapid flooding caused deaths of at least six people.

The province reports as many as 10 149 flooded homes (of more than 23 000 across the country). 7 homes were pulled down and 9 others were severely damaged by the floods as of December 13 afternoon.

More than 52 km (32 miles) of roads and 8.3 km (5.1 miles) of river dykes have been eroded, four bridges collapsed while 18 other bridges and 78 culverts were destroyed.

The province’s agriculture sector suffered heavy losses as more than 9 100 ha (22 500 acres) of rice and other crops have been submerged and over 130 500 poultry and almost 800 cattle heads were killed.

Quang Nam Province, home to the UNESCO-recognized My Son Sanctuary and popular ancient town Hoi An, has so far reported five casualties, while Quang Tri has confirmed the deaths of two residents and Thua Thien-Hue one, Deutsche Presse Agentur reports.

Floods put much of the port city of Da Nang, the country's fourth-largest city, underwater after 635 mm (25 inches) of rain fell in the 24-hour period to Sunday, December 9. This is the heaviest rainfall since detailed record-keeping began in 1975. The city's previous 24-hr record rainfall was 593 mm (23.3 inches) set in 1999.

The Dien Bien Phu – Nguyen Tri Phuong Tunnel in Da Nang was closed to traffic. At the end of the Hue Ba Be Crossing Bridge in Ton Duc Thang Street, the water was about 50 cm (1.6 feet), VN Express reports. A landslide triggered by the heavy rains blocked a railway track near Da Nang, stopping a train for more than seven hours. Another landslide damaged 100 meters (330 feet) of the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel embankment in Quang Tri Province. Five other trains heading to Da Nang Station had to be rerouted.

The peak of the floods took place Monday morning when Da Nang city officials reported 2 550 homes underwater.

The floodwaters are now receding. However, meteorologists warned more rain is forecast to continue for the rest of the week.

Featured image credit: VNExpress

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One Comment

  1. May God Bless our country , our neighbors , our friends and our relatives. And may God shows us a way out of this horrible situation. Let us come together as brothers and sisters, as mothers and fathers, as uncles and aunts, as friends and neighbors and work together to restore our beautiful land and country.

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