Hundreds Die as Floods Devastate Central Vietnam

Vietnam braced itself today for more devastating storms after heavy rains this week that have killed hundreds of people, swamped tens of thousands of homes and dumped up to 2 feet of water on the country’s midsection.

The death toll was expected to rise as reports trickled in from areas where phone lines were down. Some areas have reported as much as 39 inches of rain this week.

The storms were expected to continue through the week, the central weather forecasting station said.

“Water is everywhere and still rising,” said Le Van Thu of the flood and storm control committee in Quang Nam province, where 150,000 houses and thousands of acres of rice were underwater.

Many people have been marooned on their roofs, waiting with increasing hunger for help that had not arrived.

Authorities have had to suspend air, rail, water and road transport. Drinking water was becoming scarce, and stagnant flood waters threatened to bring disease.

National Highway 1, the country’s north-south lifeline, was flooded in a number of places. Six trains were trapped on the line that links Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City.

Hue, the ancient capital and now home to 1 million people, was inundated with up to 10 feet of water around its Citadel, a famed tourist attraction.