Severe flooding in central Vietnam has killed at least 20 people, left five others unaccounted for, and seriously inundated many areas, according initial reports Sunday.
Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh were the worst hit provinces. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, while dozens of thousands of others were still stuck in the deadly floods.
Nghe An recorded the highest death toll with eight people killed, according to a provincial report.
Ha Tinh reported seven dead and three missing, Quang Binh four dead and one missing, Thua Thien-Hue Province one dead and one missing.
By Sunday, 143 communes of Ha Tinh’s 12 districts and towns and nearly 13,800 households in Tuyen Hoa, Minh Hoa, Le Thuy and Quang Ninh districts in Quang Binh were submerged.
Floods also inundated the central region’s life-line roads, including National Roads 1A and 15A, and Ho Chi Minh Road, causing congestions along the north-south route
Floods on rivers from Nghe An to Ha Tinh are forecast to continue rising and water levels on rivers in Quang Binh province will remain high in the coming days.
It is the second deadly flooding to hit the central country in a month, after more than 60 people were killed in central Vietnam earlier in October.
On October 17, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung sent an urgent dispatch requesting the Ministry of Finance to provide emergency aid for two hardest-hit Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces, each VND100 billion.
The National Reserve Department was asked to grant 1,000 tons of rice to each of the two provinces.
Meanwhile, super Typhoon Megi struck the northern tip of the Philippines on Monday, causing landslides in mountainous areas and whipping up huge waves along the coast, AFP reported.
The storm, dubbed a "super-typhoon" by Philippine relief agencies, was moving southwest at 19 kilometres per hour, packing gusts of up to 260 kilometres per hour, the Philippine government weather station said Monday, according to AFP.
Megi was expected to cut across the northern part of Luzon throughout Monday, and then exit out to Vietnam’s East Sea on Tuesday, the Philippine weather station said.
