At least 111 people have died and 20 others are missing in central Vietnam after flooding and landslides for more than two weeks, authorities said on Wednesday as the country awaits yet another storm scheduled for the weekend. end.
Some 178,000 homes have been submerged, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and rescuers are doing their utmost to bring food and clean water to people cut off from the world.
Roads, infrastructure and crops in the central region of the country have also been devastated by the floods, according to the organization, which warns that hundreds of thousands of people will need shelter and financial support in the coming weeks.
The floods are “among the worst suffered in decades,” said Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu of the Vietnamese Red Cross.
Vietnamese disaster management officials said at least 111 people were killed and nearly 200,000 evacuated.
Among the dead were 22 soldiers caught in a massive landslide in Quang Tri province on Sunday, as well as 13 members of a rescue team trying to save workers at a hydroelectric power station.
A search team is still trying to locate 15 workers at the plant missing.
Although the waters receded in some places, official media images showed villages still submerged and a completely flooded hospital in Quang Binh, with the beds bathing in the water.
The region is expected to experience more rains next weekend with the arrival of Storm Saudel from the South China Sea.
Vietnam frequently faces very difficult weather conditions during the rainy season, between June and November, with the central coast regions being the most vulnerable.
Last year, 132 people died or went missing due to natural disasters in Vietnam, according to the General Bureau of Statistics.
Neighboring Cambodia was also severely affected, particularly the northwest of the country. The death toll climbed to 34 dead on Wednesday with more than 400,000 people affected by the floods, Premier Hun Sen said. The province of Banteay Meanchey (North West) has experienced its worst floods in 70 years, he added.