Another round of flooding triggered by heavy rains over the weekend has killed at least 27 people and left another two missing in the beleagured central region as of Tuesday.

 

Floods have also injured seven people, damaged nearly 28,000 houses as well as nearly 20,000 hectares of rice, the Central Committee for Floods and Storms Control said in an online report.

 

They have also brought landslides to main streets like the National Way No.1A in Phu Yen Province and the North-South railway in Khanh Hoa Province, blocking the main transport arteries, local officials told the press.

 

The Xom Cat Hamlet in Phu Yen Province with more than 200 houses was attacked by a “sand flood” on Monday night.

 

As of Tuesday morning, the whole hamlet was flooded with sand with some places up to one meter under, said Nguyen Kim Tam, chief of the hamlet, adding that some houses and streets were damaged as well.

 

According to Tam, the sand came from surrounding casuarina hills and was brought to the hamlet by heavy rains.

 

This was the first time such an incident took place in the locality, local officials said, urging scientists to pay close attention to it.

 

Since last month, the central coast has been hit by four rounds of flooding, leaving hundreds of people dead or missing.