Vietnam Says 24 Dead in Floods, Search for 10 Missing Continues
Twenty-four people died and a search continues for 10 others missing after three days of downpours triggered flooding in Vietnam’s central provinces, the National Committee for Flood and Storm Control said Saturday.
Tropical storm Podul brought as much as 500 millimeters (20 inches) of rain to parts of central Vietnam, forcing about 100,000 people to evacuate flood zones, including hotel guests in Hoi An, a United Nations World Heritage Site. Some 99,000 houses were damaged and at least 1,800 hectares (4,450 acres) of rice and other crops submerged, the agency said on its website.
Podul slammed into the central coast early Nov. 15 along a 400-kilometer (250-mile) stretch from Thua Thien-Hue to Phu Yen provinces, four days after the remnants of Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the northeastern province of Quang Ninh.
Haiyan, which may have killed more than 10,000 people in the central Philippines a week ago, caused an estimated 50 billion dong ($2.4 million) of damage in Vietnam, though no casualties were reported.
–Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen, with assistance from Jason Folkmanis in Ho Chi Minh City. Editors: Jim McDonald, Reinie Booysen