Flooding caused by tropical depression Toraji has destroyed homes and left residents of Khanh Hoa Province scrambling to recover and rebuild.
Six-hundred soldiers have been deployed to search for missing persons, evacuate those that may be in still-dangerous areas and clear roads in and around the resort city. The main highway linking areas to the north and south was temporarily closed while the floodwaters stranded passengers on a local train.
Over the weekend Toraji blew in from the east, deriving from a tropical storm to a tropical depression. It brought Nha Trang 370mm of rain, most of which fell during the day on Sunday. To put the figure in perspective, Nha Trang has had an average rainfall of 332mm for the entire month of November. The tragedy has once again introduced discussions of whether certain people should remain living in their current oceanside properties.
Another storm, Man-yi, is expected to make landfall soon somewhere between Quy Nhon and Vung Tau. Nha Trang lies between the two coastal cities.
Vietnam experienced a record of 16 tropical storms last year which killed or disappeared 389 people and injured 668 others. When hurricane Damry hit Nha Trang last year, 44 died, 22 went missing and tens of thousands of homes were damaged. This year the storms have already cost the nation an estimated VND8.8 million (US$381 million).
[Photo via Navva]
