Deadly floods

The latest death toll from the current Viet Nam floods has reached 130, according to Viet Nam News. The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control provided updated statistics on 24 October. Most fatalities were reported in the central provinces of Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam.^[1]

The SIP program works far south in Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta, where the long-running drought has severely affected agriculture and local communities. The floods in Central Viet Nam are a reminder of the contradictions brought by climate change and infrastructure development. 

Deaths in these floods have been caused not only by rising waters, but also by landslides. In Quang Tri province, at least 20 military personnel died in a landslide caused by destabilization from floodwaters—the largest military death toll during peacetime.^[2] The Vietnam Red Cross Society says the floods are among the worst seen in decades.^[3]

^[1] The Star, 25 October 2020, https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2020/10/25/vietnam-more-flood-and-landslides-as-death-toll-reaches-130-12-new-imported-covid-19-cases; story republished from Viet Nam News/Asian News Agency

^[2] Chau Doan and Mike Ives, ‘She Was in Labor. Floodwaters Were Rising. Then the Boat Tipped Over.’ New York Times, 23 October 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/world/asia/vietnam-floods.html

^[3] ibid