Deluge turns life upside down in central Vietnam

A man carries a bag of clothes to safety in Dong Ha. The entire central region has been battered by downpours as a cold spell came in contact with tropical turbulence.

A man wades through the flood water to save a bag of belongings from a flooded house

A man tries to rescue his family's cupboard.

Submerged houses in Quang Tri Province. From Tuesday night to Thursday morning, rainfall amounted to 409 mm and 348 mm in Huong Linh Commune and Lao Bao Town of Quang Tri's Huong Hoa District. Rainfall of 180 mm in a day is considered heavy.

Rescue crews in Cam Lo District of Quang Tri use motorboats to evacuate people from flooded homes. Many gardens and farms across the district have been reported to be two-three meters under water.

Nguyen Thi Theo in Thuy Phu Village of Thua Thien-Hue Province said flood water started inundating the street in front of her house since the afternoon of Wednesday and during Thursday morning, soon entering her home. "If the heavy rains were to continue, along with water coming down from upstream, higher flood levels should be expected," she said, adding flood water has risen more slowly compared to previous years.

Heavy rains along with floods discharged from Huong Dien hydropower plant in Thua Thien-Hue have worsened conditions. In this photo, motorcyclists are seen on a street in Quang Dien District 30-40 cm under water.

Bach Dang Street in Hoi An of Quang Nam Province is half a meter under water. The street crosses the center of the ancient town, a top tourist destination in central Vietnam. Hoi An recorded flooding of 1.3 m by Thursday morning, with the level expected to rise to 1.6 m.

Emergency personnel remove trash from An Hoi Bridge spanning the Hoai River in the anctient town Hoi An.

Police block a part of Chau Thuong Van Street that crosses An Hoi Bridge after flood water rose nearly half a meter above street level. Central localities from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai provinces should expect heavy rains of 330-400 mm a day until Sunday, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Dinh Thanh Long, owner of a clothes shop in Hoi An, packs the clothes he sells into plastic bags and props the shelves up to keep his products from the flood water. "This I learned during the floods in late 2018. Back then, I had suffered much damage."