HÀ NỘI  – At least four people died, one is missing and three were injured after torrential rains swept through the northern and north-central regions over the past few days, according to the latest report from the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

The downpour, triggered by an intertropical convergence zone, reached 200-400mm in some areas.

In the central province of Thanh Hóa, 200mm of rainfall and subsequent flooding was recorded in Mường Lát District yesterday, killing one person and washing away four houses, Cao Văn Cường, Chairman of the district People’s Committee said. 

The district was inaccessible to transportation as several sections of National Road 15C connecting this mountainous district with other localities were eroded. More than 30 hectares of rice and other crops were damaged.

As complex rain developments are forecast, local authorities have evacuated 10 families from flood-prone areas and readied plans to minimise flood impacts and assist people.

The northern mountainous province of Lào Cai on Saturday reported one dead and one missing after torrential rains hitting the locality.

The northern mountainous province of Điện Biên reported two deaths, including two children who were swept away by downpour-triggered floods on Friday.

Three people were injured by landslides yesterday in the northern mountainous province of Yên Bái. Torrential rains and floods damaged eight houses in the province, forcing two households to be relocated immediately, and destroyed 900sq.m of rice fields and 6ha of other crops. Initial property loss is estimated at VNĐ200 million (US$9,000).

Prolonged heavy rains of more than 100mm caused landslides along many traffic routes in Hòa Bình province and destroyed trees and crops.

Thousands of cu.m of landslides on national highway No 6 crossing the Mai Châu district blocked traffic for many hours at around 4am yesterday. The highway was cleared by 1.30pm.

Heavy rains also hit Hà Nội from Saturday night, and floods of 0.1m-0.2m are forecast in inner streets of the capital city such as Lý Thường Kiệt, Lê Duẩn, Khâm Thiên, Nguyễn Khuyến, Cao Bá Quát, Thái Hà, Xuân Thủy and Phạm Văn Đồng.

Local authorities of these localities mobilised available forces to help people in affected areas.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that downpours would continue in the northern and north central regions in the next few days, with rainfall ranging between 70mm-200mm.

The Centre warned of flooding in major cities and urban areas in Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Quảng Ninh, Thái Bình, Nam Định, Ninh Bình and Hải Dương. Flash flood and landslide are forecast in the northern mountainous and north-central regions, especially Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh, Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hòa Bình, Thái Nguyên, Thanh Hóa, and Nghệ An. - VNS