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A tropical low lasting several days has brought torrential rain to the central region, killing at least two, sinking boats, raising river levels and threatening thousands of hectares of rice.

The 220ml of rain that poured down on Thursday night also cut off residential areas in Hai Chau, Cam Le and Lien Chieu districts.

Cam Le District government said the flooding on Friday drowned 16-year-old Cao Van Vinh as he slipped into a hole while wading through the water.

Nguyen Sot, 80, of neighboring Quang Nam Province was also killed on the spot that same day when he was electrocuted by a live wire that had fallen down during the rain.

The heavy downpour and flooding was a brand new experience for many in Da Nang. Those living near the Dam Rong Lake had to stay up through Thursday night as their houses were around one meter flooded.

The city of Hue was hit even harder. Rainfall measuring more than 430ml in places left many streets in the center of the old capital up to 80 centimeters under water on Friday morning.

Tran Quang Khai, Nguyen Hue, Dong Da and Le Hong Phong were the most heavily flooded streets.

Elsewhere in Thua Thien Hue Province, traffic in parts of Quang Dien, Phong Dien and Phu Vang districts was paralyzed.

Schools across the province such as Hoang Du Khuong Primary and Nguyen Van Linh Junior High were also disturbed as the teachers and students had to bail out water from the classrooms.

Heavy rains for several days have also ruined agricultural crops in some places and prompt fears of further damage elsewhere.

Le Sinh, a farmer in Da Nang, said it was the first time that his field was flooded when the rice was just about ready for harvest. “There’s no time for anyone to do anything,” he said.

An officer from Da Nang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said the rains and the flooding happened too quickly and his agency had not yet been able to calculate the damage caused.

Preliminary assessments show that Quang Nam Province has around 1,400 hectares of rice submerged, generating losses of VND25 billion (US$1.4 million), not to mention the loss of productivity – by 25-30 percent – at thousands of hectares.

Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy head of Dai Loc District in nearby Quang Nam Province, said 495 hectares of rice in the district were completely destroyed, as well as 205 hectares of other plants.

Quang Tri Province also has all of 2,200 hectares of rice under water.

In Quang Binh and Quang Ngai Provinces, farmers have been forced to spend most of the day in the field harvesting as much of their rice as they can, even during the downpour.

Boat safety

In Quang Ngai Province on Thursday, two sailors lost radio contact with the mainland as they were taking their vessel to port to escape the gale.

Another fishing boat from Quang Ngai broke down and was towed back to land, while four others either drowned or missing.

The rough seas also sank a speed boat of Dung Quat Oil Filter Factory in the province.

As of Friday morning, Quang Ngai still had 1,178 fishing boats with 9,363 crew out at sea, some as far away as the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) islands, according to the Quang Ngai Rescue and Storm Prevention Steering Committee.

Thirteen boats of Quang Tri Province which are still offshore have been able to contact the mainland.

At 10 a.m. on Friday, the tropical depression was centered 60 kilometers offshore to the east of Da Nang and Quang Ngai and moving in a northwesterly direction, generating winds of up to 60 kilometers an hour.

The Central Hydrometeorology Forecast Center has advised people from Quang Binh to Quang Ngai and in the northern section of the Central Highlands to be prepared for flooding and landslides.

The Vung Che Bridge under construction in Quang Nam Province has been swept away by the floods.

Source: Thanh Nien, VNA