HO CHI MINH CITY – Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in central Vietnam have killed at least 34 people, with 11 others missing since Friday, after a tropical depression dumped heavy rains across central regions of the country.
Floodwaters rose quickly after 15 hydroelectric power plants in the region opened their sluice gates to release water in reservoir protection, local media reported.
Around 100,000 houses were submerged and nearly 80,000 people were evacuated, the government-run committee on floods and storm protection said.
Roads have been closed and some national train services cancelled.
Local authorities described the deluge as the worst for over a decade.
There has been disruption to the coffee harvest and bean drying in Vietnam’s central highland provinces, Reuters news agency reports.
In other news, nine out of 10 growers surveyed by Bloomberg in Dak Lak province said that while margins had narrowed they would continue to apply fertilizer and invest in their plantations to preserve output.
Farmers are now harvesting a record crop of 1.7 million tons, 13 percent more than a year earlier, according to the median of 11 trader and shipper estimates compiled separately.
