Death toll climbs in Southeast Asia as heavy rains cause floods, landslides

Hanoi: The death toll in widespread flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Southeast Asia mounted on Monday with another person reported killed in Vietnam, and five others in Thailand with tens of thousands of people displaced.

The total number of confirmed dead in Vietnam is now 91, with 11 others missing as the heavy rain that began a week ago has caused severe flooding and triggered landslides from Quang Tri to Lam Dong provinces, a stretch of 800 kilometers along the country’s central region, including the highlands.

In Dak Lak, the worst hit province, 63 people were killed, mostly due to drowning. Other fatalities were from Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Danang, Hue and Quang Tri provinces.

With roads washed out in many areas, helicopters have been deployed to drop food and aid supplies and to assist in evacuating people.

After a break in the rain on the weekend, Pham Thu Huyen was one of many hundreds of residents and visitors who helped clean up debris washed ashore in Nha Trang, a popular tourist destination in Khanh Hoa province, known for its white sand beaches.

“We’ve never experienced that much rain and such bad flooding,” the 45-year-old said.

Waters have also taken their toll on this year’s crops, submerging coffee farms in Dak Lak, Vietnam’s major coffee growing region. Overall, damage so far is estimated to be around USD 500 million in this round of floods.

Some of the waters have now receded but Vietnam’s weather agency warned that with rains continuing in some places the risks remain, and said a new tropical depression was forming that could bring worse weather again later in the week.

Scientists warn that a warming climate is intensifying storms and rainfall across Southeast Asia, making floods and landslides increasingly destructive and frequent.

The current destruction has hit a region already battered earlier this month by floods from record rainfall and the powerful

typhoon Kalmaegi.agencies