Storm dumps torrents on Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand

Torrential rainfall deluged parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand on Sunday as tropical depression Linfa made landfall from the South China Sea, causing chaos as it made its way inland.

In central Vietnam, almost a metre of rain fell and five people are known to have died with eight still missing as floodwaters inundated more than 33,000 homes, forcing more than 26,000 people to evacuate, the official disaster management authority said.

Hundreds of families in three northern Cambodian provinces – Pursat, Battambang and Pailin – have been forced to evacuate amid extreme rainfall as the storm ransacked the Mekong region.

In Laos, rising floodwaters damaged villages and drenched rice fields along the Xepon and Xebanghieng rivers in Savannakhet province.

In Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province, rivers overflowed, inundating properties as families scrambled to move their belongings to higher ground. Provincial Governor Vichien Chantaranothai said the Pak Chong district was the hardest hit, with 8,000 households and 12,000 people affected. Authorities were distributing food packages and urged people to evacuate to community shelters.

There looks to be no let-up coming immediately.

VietReader says meteorologists are predicting that in the next 10 days the central region should be prepared for two more tropical depressions that would bring more downpours and more flooding.