Flooding sparked by storm kills 31 in Vietnam

ANOI
HANOI—Severe floods triggered by a short-lived storm have killed at least 31 people and cut off traffic in several areas in central Vietnam over the last three days, forcing authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of people.
Most of the deaths were due to drowning, as water levels rose to nearly three meters in some villages. The government said Saturday that floods had killed 13 people in Binh Dinh, seven in Quang Ngai and two each in Phu Yen, Quang Nam and Gia Lai provinces.
“Water is everywhere,” said Le Cong Dung, an official with the storm department in Quang Nam, where the tourist resort town of Hoi An has reported flood water of up to 0.67 meters deep.
Around 1,400 people, including foreign tourists, have been evacuated from that area, the government said earlier Saturday, adding that authorities have evacuated more than 17,600 people from flood-prone areas in five central provinces.
Floods have also inundated tens of thousands of houses and isolated several areas, the government said in a statement.
The storm, named Podul as it approached the coastline of south central Vietnam Thursday night, weakened to a tropical depression before making landfall. It triggered heavy rains in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces, with rainfall ranging between 100 millimeters and 300 millimeters, according to the government.