Floods continue to devastate Vietnam, 62 dead and 100,000 without food

Floods claim 62 in Vietnam, 20 still missing

HANOI, Vietnam — The death toll in devastating floods in central Vietnam rose to 62 as authorities rushed aid to about 100,000 people facing food shortages, officials said Saturday.

Fourteen additional bodies were recovered over two days, and authorities were searching for 20 people still missing, the national floods and storms control committee said on its website.

The floods have caused an estimated damage of 2.2 trillion dong ($110 million) to crops and infrastructure, the committee said.

In the worst-hit province of Quang Binh, where 42 people died and another 17 remain missing, authorities were scurrying to deliver aid to victims, disaster official Nguyen Ngoc Giai said.

No rains were reported in the region Saturday.

“The worst part of the flooding is over,” he said. “Our task now is to provide food and water to more than 100,000 people who are in shortage of food.”

Authorities have given local villagers disinfectants to try to prevent outbreaks of waterbourne disease, Giai said.