Heavy rains slam central region

Hanoi (VNA) – Torrential rains have caused breached dykes, landslides, house collapses and flooding almost everywhere in the central region.

[Heavy rains flood central coastal localities]

Resident in the provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue are grappling with the havoc wreaked by a tropical depression that hit the coast early October 10 morning.

Nghe An has been hardest hit by the disaster, with five deaths and one missing reported as of the evening of October 10.

[Nghe An: heavy rain leaves 1 dead, 2 missing]

As many as 584 houses in the province were submerged and more than 1,630 fowls were killed and swept away by floods while about 3,660 hectares of corn and vegetables, 25 hectares of rice and 1,600 hectares of aquatic farming ponds were inundated.

Ha Tinh has also suffered serious losses. In Gia Hanh commune, Can Loc district, a 1.5km section of a local dyke was swept away. Later, landslides broke the dyke at two other sections, dumping hundreds of cubic metres of soil into the local river. Local farms and gardens were flooded and 50 hectares of vegetables damaged.

The main road in mountainous Son Tay commune, Huong Son district was flooded and residents had to use boats to get around.

Huong Khe, Vu Quang and Nghi Xuan districts were also inundated, leaving 1,300 families in floodwater a metre high.

In Quang Binh province, floodwater has isolated many communes in the two mountainous districts of Minh Hoa and Tuyen Hoa. All schools in the areas have been shut down as well.

Weather experts expect the flooding in the central region’s major cities to last until October 11.-VNA