Death toll rises to 69 by floods in Vietnam's Mekong delta

Floods in the Mekong delta killed at least 69 people, inundated 137,300 houses and 22,955 hectare of rice paddies, and eroded over 1,560 km of dykes, as of Tuesday, according to official data released here Thursday. According to the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) Thursday, this year's record floods have caused an estimated damage of more than 2.85 trillion Vietnamese dong (135 million U.S. dollars) to the Mekong delta provinces since they began rising in August. Insiders attributed the higher floodwater levels to rising high tides and construction of infrastructure, which has restricted the flow of floods into the sea. According to the Hydro-meteorology Forecast Centre, flood water in the upstream areas of the Mekong River, Dong Thap Muoi (Plains of Reeds) and Long Xuyen Quadrangle regions in the Mekong Delta are beginning to recede. Water level from the Tien River is expected to ebb from 4.3 meters on Tuesday to 4.05 meters on Friday.