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Viet Nam floods kill 24, more rains expected

DA NANG Today
Published: December 21, 2016

Days of unseasonably torrential rains have killed at least 24 people in central Viet Nam, authorities recently said, inundating swathes of the region including the tourist draw town of Hoi An.

A man wades through floodwaters in front of his home in the central Vietnamese province of Binh Dinh on December 18, 2016. AFP
A man wades through floodwaters in front of his home in Binh Dinh Province on December 18, 2016. AFP

Viet Nam regularly experiences tropical storms and heavy downpours but it is unusual for the country to see so much rain in December, during the cooler dry season that is popular with tourists.

Coastal Binh Dinh province reported the biggest death toll with 16 people killed since heavy rains began on 12 December , according to an official online report from the national flood and storm control committee.

At least 2 more are missing in the province with hundreds of houses in remote areas currently under water.

The report said damage totalled $32 million with more than 32,000 hectares of crops destroyed.

Parts of Hoi An, a World Heritage site that boasts picturesque pre-colonial trading houses, were submerged under water.

"It is strange for our town to be hit with flooding in December," Nguyen Thi Hon, a restaurant owner in Hoi An, told AFP adding some tourists had taken to seeing the sights by boat.

The floodwaters have receded in the last few days, she added.

But local forecasters have warned of further rains to come in the region at the end of the week.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)

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