Heavy rain leads to flood damage in central Vietnam

Large-scale heavy rain and flood over the recent four days in Vietnam's central Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Binh Thuan provinces have caused at least two deaths and two missing, plus hundreds of houses inundated, irrigation works damaged, and hundreds of hectares of crops destroyed, reported the Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) on Monday. Heavy rainfall and flood also caused traffic jams on local highways and inter-province roads, while water levels from rivers continue rising, the report said. CCFSC instructed local authorities to coordinate with one another in protecting the residents by evacuating them to safe areas, guarding the irrigation works, regulating traffic on roads and be ready for rescue when needed. Meanwhile, the Central Hydrometeorology Centre forecast water levels from the local rivers continue rising high on Monday, while water from the upstream Mekong River, in the Dong Thap Muoi region and the Long Xuyen quadrangle in the south will reach the highest level of between 3.50 4.05 meters on September 15.