Vietnam floods and landslides displace 90,000 people as new cyclone nears

More than 100 so far reported dead or missing after two storms destroy homes and leave trail of destruction

Floods and landslides in Vietnam are reported to have left at least 102 people dead or missing, while tens of thousands of people have lost their homes to rising water.

Two storms that hit central Vietnam in the first two weeks of October, Storm Linfa and Storm Nangka, brought six times higher than average rainfall, flooding 136,000 houses and forcing 90,000 people to evacuate their homes. A third cyclone is expected to hit the coast in the coming days.

Worst hit is Hue province, some 700km (434 miles) away from the capital, Hanoi. Police and soldiers have been using canoes and boats in Ha Tinh city to reach the most flooded areas to evacuate people and move property to safety. In this city alone, more than 20,700 people were reported to have been evacuated.

In Quang Binh province, 130km away, flood water continues to rise, swallowing up entire houses or burying them beneath landslides. On Sunday 13 households , about 60 people in total, were relocated, as an estimated 3,000 tonnes of rock and soil came crashing down on homes and roads.

Landslides buried a military barracks at Quang Trị in the early hours of Sunday, killing 22 soldiers and officers.

Blue Dragon, a non-governmental organisation that helps at-risk families around Vietnam, is one of a handful of non-profits working in Hue, with help and donations slowly trickling in.

Founder Michael Brosowski said: “Hue experiences floods each year, but the scale and the speed this year is shocking. Local residents now live in a way that is prepared for a natural disaster, but this is on a much larger scale. They’ll have to start all over again.”

By Ashley Lampard – The Guardian – October 19, 2020