Death toll in south-central Vietnam floods rises to 98

A rapid update from the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority shows that the casualties increased by six deaths compared with previous figures.

Dak Lak remains the hardest-hit province, with 63 fatalities and eight people still missing.

Floodwaters destroyed 426 homes, damaged more than 2,000 others, and inundated over 272,000 houses across the central region.

Dak Lak still has four communes and wards facing localized, low-level flooding.

In Lam Dong Province, 75 households remain submerged, while 82 households in Cat Tien Commune are isolated because of flooded roads and can now only be reached by boat and other emergency means for food and essential supplies.

The agricultural sector suffered major losses. Nearly 52,000 hectares of rice and other crops and almost 40,000 hectares of perennial plantations were ravaged.

Aquaculture losses include 372 hectares of ponds and more than 100,000 floating cages.

Floods also killed or swept away about 920,000 head of livestock and poultry.

Transport infrastructure remains strained.

Authorities are still dealing with 12 landslide sites on National Highways 20 and 27C that continue to disrupt traffic.

Khanh Hoa Province accounts for nine blocked points on National Highway 27C.

Lam Dong reported two landslides on National Highway 20 at the Mimosa Pass and D’Ran Pass, plus one more on National Highway 27C.

Railway authorities have largely completed repairs at landslide and erosion points. Safety inspections are still underway before full train operations resume.

Power outages peaked at nearly 1.2 million customers during the height of the floods. As of Wednesday morning, about 2,300 customers remained without electricity.

Preliminary economic losses by province include about VND650 billion ($25 million) in Quang Ngai, VND1.5 trillion ($57 million) in Gia Lai, VND5.5 trillion ($209 million) in Dak Lak, VND5.604 trillion ($212 million) in Khanh Hoa, and VND1.098 trillion ($42 million) in Lam Dong.

Authorities across the affected provinces continue to review damage reports and accelerate clean-up and recovery work.

Disaster toll for the year climbs

The Disaster and Dyke Management Authority reported that from the start of the year through November 24, natural disasters nationwide killed or left missing 409 people, injured 727 others, destroyed more than 3,700 houses, and damaged or stripped the roofs from over 333,000 homes.

Total nationwide disaster losses this year are estimated at over VND85.099 trillion ($3.2 billion).

International aid steps up

As of Tuesday, foreign embassies and international organizations have provided and pledged approximately US$14.2 million in assistance to provinces affected by recent storms and floods, including storms Bualoi, Matmo, Fengshen, Kalmaegi, and subsequent flood events.

The New Zealand government pledged NZ$1 million ($570,000), and South Korea’s S-TEC System Company committed support worth roughly VND2 billion ($76,000) for disaster-hit localities.

On Monday, relief supplies from the European Union and organizations including UNICEF, IOM, Save the Children, and CRS were delivered to Dak Lak through the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority.

The Office of Disaster Risk Reduction Partnership has also formally requested further assistance from the Asian Development Bank and the U.S. government as recovery needs continue to grow.