Two dead as floods hit central Vietnam

TWO people died after being swept away in floodwaters in central Vietnam, state media reported.

Almost 500 houses were inundated with water in recent days, according to Vietnam’s disaster management authority.

The coastal city of Da Nang has been hit with heavy rain, as have areas from Ha Tinh to Quang Nam provinces since Tuesday.

A 61-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy drowned in the floods, according to state media website VnExpress.

Around 5,000 people were evacuated from homes in Da Nang on Friday night and Saturday morning, it said.

“The floodwater rose to my thighs and all of my family had to move upstairs, before the rescuers came and evacuated us,” city resident Dinh Thi Tu Uyen told VnExpress.

In Hue city on Friday, roads flooded by the Perfume River, with water reaching nearly chest-high levels in some areas.

Last weekend, three people died in flash floods and landslides in northern Vietnam.

Heavy rain is forecast to continue across the middle of the South-East Asian nation in coming days.

Vietnam is frequently lashed by harsh weather in the rainy season between June and November.

Natural disasters including floods and landslides have claimed around 100 lives in the country since the beginning of the year, according to the country’s General Statistics Office.

Scientists have warned extreme weather events globally are becoming more intense and frequent due to climate change. — AFP