Death toll from Vietnam floods rises to 55

Devastating floods in Vietnam\'s central and southern provinces killed at least 55 people since August, reported the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday. Floods in the southern Mekong river delta have claimed the lives of 48 people and caused damages worth more than 1.2 trillion Vietnamese dong (57 million U.S. dollars), said the report. Flooding caused by the Mekong river rose to record levels, inundating more than 80,700 houses, damaging 1,455 km of dykes and 1,300 km of roads, and destroying 7,500 hectares of autumn-winter rice and 2,600 hectares of aquatic farms. In Hau Giang\'s Phung Hiep district, where 8,800 hectares of sugarcane were planted and would normally have been harvested around the end of November, farmers are harvesting 6,000 hectares that have been submerged for more than a week, reported Vietnam News Agency Tuesday. The National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre (HFC) said water in the upper Mekong River, Dong Thap Muoi region, and Long Xuyen quadrangle would ebb slowly over the next five days, but remain high at Grade 3 warning level until early November. Meanwhile, flash floods caused by torrential rain in Vietnam\'s central region over the last weekend had killed seven people, injured 14 others while another four still missing. Floods also inundated more than 92,000 houses and submerged 2, 200 hectares of rice and 3,500 hectares of other crops in central provinces. More than 6,500 households were evacuated to safe places. According to HFC, rainfalls in central provinces were measured at 100 mm-200 mm and up to 400 mm in parts of Quang Tri province. On National Highway 1A running through the districts of Quang Ninh and Le Thuy, flooding caused severe congestion, stranding hundreds of trucks and cars. In Quang Tri province, flooding also stranded five trains carrying around 2,000 passengers, said the report.