HANOI: Central Vietnam is in crisis as a week of intense flooding and unprecedented rainfall has driven the death toll to 40. Authorities announced the grim update on Tuesday, with fears mounting as another powerful storm, Typhoon Kalmaegi, threatens to strike the devastated region.
Vietnam’s central provinces have been inundated by torrential rains, transforming streets into canals, causing rivers to overflow, and submerging several of the country’s cherished historic landmarks. One particularly severe 24-hour period saw rainfall reach up to 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches), shattering national records.
The fatalities were reported across Hue, Da Nang, Lam Dong, and Quang Tri provinces. The environment ministry’s disaster management agency also confirmed that six people are still missing. Just two days prior, on Sunday, the death toll stood at 35.
The relentless onslaught of extreme weather is far from over. The national weather bureau predicts that Typhoon Kalmaegi will make landfall in the early hours of Friday morning, bringing with it further threats to life and property.
For residents like Tran Thi Ky from Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site where the ancient town is now submerged in muddy, waist-high water, the situation is unbearable. “It’s exhausting,” the 57-year-old shared with AFP. “We are tired of flooding, but what can we do?” Her home has been flooded three times in less than ten days, and despite efforts to move furniture to higher ground, everything is still soaked.
While Vietnam typically experiences heavy rain between June and September, scientific data points to human-driven climate change as a factor in making such extreme weather events more frequent and destructive. Normally, ten typhoons or tropical storms impact Vietnam annually, either directly or offshore. However, Typhoon Kalmaegi is projected to be the 13th storm of 2025.
The typhoon has already wreaked havoc in the central Philippines, resulting in at least five deaths and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. As it approaches Vietnam’s coast on Thursday, forecasters warn of winds reaching up to 166 kilometers (100 miles) per hour.
The region is still reeling from the past week’s devastation, with numerous remote areas remaining isolated due to landslides that have blocked crucial roads. State media has reported significant structural damage, including a 15-meter section of the wall at the historic Hue Imperial Citadel, known as the Dai Noi, which has collapsed.
The disaster agency’s latest figures reveal that nearly 80,000 homes are flooded, over 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of crops have been destroyed, and more than 68,000 cattle have perished in the floods.