Vietnam: Relentless rains and massive flooding have claimed at least 41 lives in central Vietnam since the weekend, with rescue teams still searching for nine people who remain missing. The downpour has inundated more than 52,000 homes, cut power to half a million households, and forced tens of thousands to flee to safer ground.
Rainfall in several regions crossed 1.5 metres in just three days, surpassing the historic 1993 flood peak of 5.2 metres in some locations. Entire neighbourhoods disappeared under water, leaving residents stranded on rooftops as rescue boats struggled through strong currents.
The worst-hit areas include the popular coastal cities of Hoi An and Nha Trang, along with coffee-growing zones in the central highlands. Farmers in these regions were already facing delays in harvests after two earlier typhoons, Kalmaegi and Bualoi, ravaged their crops. In Dak Lak, Vietnam’s biggest coffee-producing province, tens of thousands of homes were submerged and farmlands were washed out.
Natural disasters have inflicted nearly 2 billion dollars in damage across Vietnam between January and October, according to government estimates. The latest flooding is expected to increase that toll significantly, especially as the country is one of the world’s major exporters of robusta coffee.
The situation remains dangerous. Authorities say the extreme weather could continue through at least Sunday. Military and police units have been deployed to set up temporary shelters and move families out of high-risk zones. Landslides triggered by the heavy rains have destroyed key roads, forcing provinces to declare states of emergency.
Traffic came to a complete standstill earlier this week after part of the Mimosa Pass, a vital route into the tourist city of Da Lat, collapsed into a ravine. Residents in Nha Trang described the flooding as the worst they have seen in years. A restaurant owner said his shops were under nearly a metre of water and feared the rain would continue without pause.
Vietnam has been battered repeatedly this year. Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least five people on the central coast earlier this month, after leaving destruction across the Philippines, where it claimed 188 lives on Cebu Island. In September, Typhoon Bualoi brought winds of more than 117 kilometres per hour to central and northern Vietnam, killing at least 11 people.
