Vietnam floods kill 7 in wake of tropical storm

By Bennett Murray

HANOI, Vietnam

At least seven people have died in northern Vietnam over the weekend as flooding continued to take its toll on the region Monday in the wake of Tropical Storm Dianmu.

Ongoing flooding, which began Friday night after the tropical storm swept through the region, has also been blamed for eight injuries and 89 collapsed houses by the government’s Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention and Control in a report issued late Sunday night.

Around 10,755 hectares of rice are also reportedly underwater, with rainfall as high as 344 millimeters reported throughout the weekend.

The damage is expected to rise Monday as rainfall and flooding continues throughout the northern mountainous region.

Tropical Storm Dianmu, which unleashed winds up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour and 200 millimeters of rain, made landfall Friday afternoon at the port city of Haiphong before moving westward toward Hanoi, reported the local Tuoi Tre newspaper.

One person was reported dead during the initial storm.

The weekend’s flooding in the mountains follows flash floods caused by Typhoon Nida earlier this month, which caused days of storms in northern Vietnam that killed at least four people after the typhoon made landfall in southern China on Aug. 2.