Heavy rain to continue till Sunday, power cut off in more than 50,000 houses; 41 deaths in Vietnam

HANOI: Heavy rains in Vietnam have claimed 41 lives, and forecasts indicate the downpour may continue until Sunday. Continuous rainfall has triggered severe flooding, submerging around 52,000 houses. Power has been cut in more than 50,000 homes, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas.

Vietnam was hit by two powerful storms in the past few weeks- Typhoon Bualo and Typhoon Kalmaegi- both of which caused extensive damage. The coastal cities of Hoi An and Nha Trang were among the worst affected. Heavy rain has also severely damaged coffee plantations in the highland regions. In Dak Lak, one of the country’s major coffee-producing areas, tens of thousands of homes were flooded.

The army and police are actively engaged in rescue and evacuation efforts. Landslides have destroyed several roads and national highways. The Vietnamese government has declared the floods a national disaster.