Vietnam flood toll rises to 32, rice crop damaged
HANOI - Flash floods triggered by prolonged rains in central Vietnam have killed at least 32 people in recent weeks and damaged rice crops, officials said on Friday.
Rains which began in late November have inundated more than 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) of newly-planted rice crops in the central provinces of Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Quang Ngai, officials from the Committee for Flood and Storm Control told Reuters.
"The weather is quite abnormal this year, waters in rivers in the central region have started to recede but we expect new rains over the weekend so people should stay alert," said an official from the center in central city of Danang.
He said the official death toll from four central provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen, had risen to 32 and at least eight people remained missing after being washed away by flash floods.
Heavy rains also triggered landslides in the central region, damaging roads and disrupting traffic.
Weather forecasters in the country's top coffee-growing province of Daklak told Reuters the rains had temporarily stopped on Friday but they expected more rains over the weekend.
Prolonged rains in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt have delayed the coffee harvest there and made it difficult for farmers to dry newly-picked coffee cherries.
Reuters - December 16, 2005.
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