Vietnam evacuates thousands as floods kill 19

Hanoi, Aug 18: Vietnam ordered the evacuation of thousands of people today in the central and northern regions to avoid flash floods and landslides triggered by prolonged rains that have killed at least 19 people.

Floods after torrential rains since last Friday hit the Central Highlands' key coffee-growing region and four central coastal provinces, killing at least eight people in Binh Thuan province and four in Nghe An province, a government report said.

Six others drowned in four provinces and one died in the Mekong delta province of Dong Thap. The floods also displaced thousands of people, inundated 5,000 houses, submerged nearly 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of mainly rice and corn crops and also blocked traffic.

''The rains, which in the past weeks have triggered landslides and floods causing human deaths and property damage, are expected to continue in the coming days in the country's north and central north,'' the National Flood and Storm Prevention Centre said in a message today.

The centre ordered provincial authorities to move people out of low-lying areas.

More than 1,600 households in the central highland provinces of Dak Nong, Daklak and Lam Dong have been evacuated, the centre said.

Rice and instant noodles have been sent to the Central Highlands that produce 80 per cent of Vietnam's coffee.

Natural disasters, especially floods and storms, kill several hundred people in Vietnam each year, mainly during the storm season between May and October.

This year's rains and floods did not damage the region's coffee crop as coffee trees are planted on higher ground. But rains have delayed several deliveries to Saigon Port as exporters temporarily stopped processing, traders said.

Further to the south, seasonal floods are forecast to rise quickly in the next five days in the Mekong delta rice basket, which generates half of Vietnam's grain output. However, most of the summer-autumn rice crop has been harvested in key growing provinces bordering Cambodia.

Reuters