Vietnam’s flood crisis has claimed 90 lives as authorities continue tallying destruction from rainfall that has battered the country’s southern and central provinces for weeks.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment reported Sunday that Dak Lak province in the mountainous central region accounts for 63 fatalities since November 16th, where floodwaters engulfed tens of thousands of residences. Search efforts continue for at least 12 people still unaccounted for across affected areas.
Though waters have started retreating in Dak Lak, multiple communities remain underwater with hundreds of families displaced, according to VnExpress. Mach Van Si, 61, recounted spending two nights marooned on his corrugated metal rooftop with his wife as floods consumed their village. “Everything around us was wiped out. Mud covered what little remained,” the farmer told AFP. Once they’d scrambled up a ladder to their roof, fear gave way to resignation. “I simply accepted we would die there—escape seemed impossible.”
Since late October, torrential downpours have hammered south-central Vietnam, transforming tourist destinations into disaster zones through repeated inundations. Coastal Nha Trang saw entire neighborhoods submerged last week, while fatal landslides buried highland routes near Da Lat’s tourism center.
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Agricultural devastation spans over 80,000 hectares across Dak Lak and four neighboring provinces from the past week alone, with casualties including more than 3.2 million farm animals either killed or swept away. In Khanh Hoa province, floodwaters demolished two suspension bridges, severing access to numerous rural households.
Emergency response has included helicopter missions dropping supplies to isolated communities, with government mobilizing tens of thousands of workers distributing essentials—clothing, water treatment tablets, instant meals—to stranded populations, state media Tuoi Tre News reported.
Transportation networks remained crippled Sunday. Multiple national highway segments stayed blocked by either standing water or landslide debris, while portions of the rail system remained inoperable. Electrical service hadn’t been restored to over 129,000 customers, down from more than a million without power during peak flooding.
Economic damage across five provinces reaches $343 million, the Environment Ministry calculated. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh authorized 500 billion dong ($19 million) for Dak Lak reconstruction of homes and public infrastructure, Vietnam News reported. Additional allocations included 300 billion dong ($11.4 million) for Lam Dong province and 150 billion dong ($5.7 million) each to Gia Lai and Khanh Hoa.
The prime minister set aggressive deadlines: complete residential repairs by November 20th and finish constructing replacement housing for those who lost everything before January ends, ensuring families have shelter for Lunar New Year festivities.