Severe flooding in central Vietnam has killed 10 people, with water levels on one major river reaching their highest level in 60 years.
AFP reports that coastal provinces in Vietnam have been battered by torrential rains since the weekend. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hoi An Ancient Town was also flooded on Thursday (October 30), its streets turning into canals.
The area received a record 1.7 meters of rainfall in 24 hours.
Houses and shops in the Hoi An Ancient Town area were submerged, and residents waded through waist-deep water in wooden boats through the flooded streets.
Resident Tran Thi Ky said that her family had been trying to elevate their furniture with bricks for the past few days, but her refrigerator, kitchenware, and wooden furniture on the first floor were almost completely submerged.
Standing on her second-floor balcony, she said, “I’ve lived here for so many years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The local environment department said at least 10 people have died this week, and eight others are missing.
More than 128,000 homes in five central provinces of Vietnam were flooded, with water reaching depths of up to 3 meters in some areas.
The Ministry of Environment also stated that floods and landslides damaged or blocked several kilometers of roads, destroyed more than 5,000 hectares of crops, and killed over 16,000 livestock.
The Vietnam Meteorological Department reported that the Thu Bon River reached a water level of 5.62 meters on Wednesday evening (29th), 4 centimeters higher than the record high recorded in 1964.
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