Four people have been reported to have perished in the northern region under heavy downpours in the last few days as a result of Typhoon Kaitak in the East Sea and a low pressure trough.
Rains swelled the Tran Bridge spring in Phu Tho Province, where 46-year-old Vi Van Tuan and 20-year-old Dinh Trong Nghia from Thanh Ba District were swept away and drowned while they were crossing the spring to go home.
According to the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention, heavy rains and flooding left two more dead in Cao Bang and Dien Bien Provinces.
The death of 13-year-old Mui Coi was caused by lightning in Nguyen Binh District of Cao Bang Province. The second death was in a traffic accident, in which a sudden landslide caused a truck to lose control and collide with a motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction in Dien Bien Phu City of Dien Bien Province.
Heavy rain triggered sinking of ground inside a residential house in Ninh Dan Commune of Thanh Ba District. At present, 76 out of 400 households in the commune are in need of urgent evacuation from highly landslide prone areas.
In related news, a 30 meter tall ancient tree suddenly toppled over an electric pole and crushed a nearby house and parking lot in Ba Dinh District in Hanoi after a brief rainfall. There were no human casualties.
The National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center on Thursday afternoon said that Typhoon Tembin is moving rapidly in an unpredictable direction at sea and likely to make landfall at any time soon in south Taiwan and north Luzon Island of the Philippines.
The unpredictable path of Tembin may be because of a clash with another typhoon called Bolaven in the same area.
Le Thanh Hai, director of the national weather bureau, said that Tembin is being termed as a highly powerful storm and authorities are bracing for extensive damage.
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