Coin Press - Record Vietnam floods kill 10, turn streets into canals

Heavy rain has pummelled Vietnam's coastal provinces, home to Hoi An's ancient town that is a UNESCO world heritage site, since the weekend, with a record of up to 1.7 metres (5 feet 7 inches) falling over 24 hours.

People steered wooden boats and waded through waist-deep water down Hoi An's flooded streets on Thursday, with the ground floors of houses and shops submerged, an AFP journalist said.

Resident Tran Thi Ky said her family had tried to raise their furniture off the ground using bricks over the past few days.

"Finally, we gave up," the 57-year-old told AFP.

Ky said the family's refrigerator, kitchenware and wooden furniture on the ground floor were almost completely underwater.

"I have never experienced this in my whole life living here," she said from the balcony of her two-storey house.

At least 10 people have been killed this week and eight others are missing, the environment ministry said.

More than 128,000 houses in five central provinces have been inundated, with water three metres (10 feet) deep in some areas.

- 'Alarming' flooding -

Several kilometres of roads have been damaged or blocked by flooding and landslides, with more than 5,000 hectares of crops destroyed and over 16,000 cattle dead, the environment ministry said.

State media reported that a section of a mountain pass linking Danang and Quang Ngai provinces was reopened after it was blocked by a landslide on Sunday.

Rescuers using drones delivered water and instant noodles to around 50 people in dozens of trucks who had been isolated on the roadway with no food and water, the report said.

Flood levels at a measuring station on the Thu Bon river, which flows through Danang and empties into the sea at Hoi An, "surpassed the historic level in 1964 by four centimetres, reaching 5.62 metres" late on Wednesday, the national weather bureau said.

"Normally the flooding lasts only three days and then we can start cleaning up," said Danang resident Le Thi Thi, 58.

"I don't think I ever experienced this prolonged and terribly high flooding," she told AFP.

Forecasters said water levels had started to slowly recede in Danang and Hue city but would remain at "alarming" levels on Thursday.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events such as storms and floods more deadly and destructive.

Natural disasters, mostly storms, floods and landslides, left 187 people dead or missing in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year.

Total economic losses were estimated at more than $610 million, according to government figures.

L.Peeters--CPN