HANOI, Nov 2, 2008 (AFP) - Floods and heavy rain have left at least 22 people dead in the last two days in central and northern Vietnam, with the capital Hanoi hardest hit, officials said Sunday. The dead, among them four children, drowned or were killed by falling trees, houses collapsing, being electrocuted or struck by lightning, said Hoang Quang Dung from the National Flood and Storm Prevention Committee. "Rains have hit northern and central Vietnam from Phu Tho to Ha Tinh provinces", he said. "They could continue until Wednesday." Vietnamese authorities also said around 55,000 houses and 180,000 hectares (440,000 acres) of crops had been flooded and estimated material losses at tens of millions of dollars. In Hanoi alone, hit Friday and Saturday by the heaviest rain since 1984, nine people died. The extreme weather caused traffic chaos in the capital Friday, leaving many people stranded. "Several houses and neighbourhood are still flooded Sunday," Dung told AFP, saying the authorities were taking all necessary measures to tackle what he described as exceptional flooding, especially for the time of year. Other casualties were reported in northern and central provinces already seriously hit by floods the previous week. Vietnam gets lashed by typhoons, tropical storms and heavy rains every year. According to government figures, floods and landslides in Vietnam last year left 435 people dead or missing.
ltl-aud/jah