Rain-triggered floods have killed 12 people, with three others still missing in the central provinces as of October 17. Three people were drowned in the floods in Nghe An province’s Nghi Loc district, and two others were still missing in Thanh Chuong District.

The bodies of seven people swept away by floods were also found in Ha Tinh province.

It is not confirmed where the other dead and missing people come from.

Thousands of houses in Nghe An are being submerged by floods, and water level in the Lam River is rising.

In Ha Tinh, tens of thousands of houses are being inundated by the rising waters of the Ke Go Lake.

More than 6,000 residents of Son Ham commune in Ha Tinh was terrified to see the Mo dam broken early Saturday morning. The whole commune was submerged in the sea of water. Hundreds of people rushed to the mountain in panic.

Ha Huy Han, a worker of the Mo dam project, who stayed up all night to watch out for the dam, said he had never seen such a threatening sight in his whole life.

“Heavy downpours were likely to tear the dam up. I tried to call other people but no one was there,” he said.

“The dam was overflowed with flood waters, many pieces of rock fell apart.”

On Saturday evening, flood waters overflowed the Tan Long dam in Son Long commune, threatening the dam. Commune authorities had to assigned rescuers and local residents to wade across the waters to protect the dam.

“If the dam breaks, it will put some 200 residents living on the foot of the dam in danger of being submerged by flood waters,” Nguyen Van Minh, chairman of the Long Son commune People’s Committee, said.

Several sections of the Ho Chi Minh Road were deeply flooded. However, residents of Huong Trach and Phuc Dong communes said it was still lucky that the road was not separated; otherwise the whole Huong Khe district would be totally isolated.

Local people and cattle, including pigs and chickens, are now sitting on the roofs to survive the floods.

In Huong Trach commune, only floating trees can be spotted among a sea of water. A police officer of Huong Khe district said police had just rescued some 100 residents of Kim Son village on Sunday morning.

An officer of the commune People’s Committee said 12 of 14 villages in the commune were flooded, and residents had to climb to the top of the trees, waiting for rescuers.

Ha Tinh Province People’s Committee has sent police and border guard soldiers in canoes and boats to rescue people.

Source: Tuoi Tre