Residents cry out for help as heavy rains flood Da Nang

Storm Son Ca, the fifth storm formed along the Vietnam coast this year, brought heavy rains to Da Nang from Friday afternoon until early Saturday morning, inundating the entire central city, with houses submerged by 1-1.5 m of floodwaters in many places.

At around 11 p.m., the intersection of Hoang Hoa Tham and Le Duan streets in Da Nang’s Thanh Khe District was under one meter of raging water, leaving about 30 cars stuck in the middle of the road.

Power outage hit many areas in Da Nang at around midnight Friday, and many residents could not contact the authorities for held as their phones were out of batteries. The police, military and local authorities were dispatched to flooded areas with boats and strings to get people to safety.

Locals said they had never seen floodwaters rising that fast before.

A man picked his child up from school at 5 p.m. but under heavy rains, they had to leave their motorbike at a repair shop to take a taxi. The taxi cab was later stuck in floodwaters and the father and child had to walk for more than two km, only to stand on Le Duan Street waiting for the water to recede.

“I have lived in Da Nang for 30 years and I have never seen floodwaters rising so high, so fast and over such large areas,” the father said.

Da Nang’s neighbor Thua Thien Hue has also suffered serious impacts from heavy rains. At around 8:30 p.m., flash floods blocked the Hai Van tunnel linking Da Nang and Thua Thien Hue, interrupting traffic on National Highway 1.

Hours of heavy rains flooded many streets in tourist town Hue, including Le Thanh Ton, Ngo Duc Ke and Nhat Le around the former Imperial Citadel, Hue’s most popular attraction.

The National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting has recorded rainfall above 500 mm in many places in the central region from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday. Suoi Da station in Da Nang recorded rainfall of 720 mm during the period, Thuy Yen Lake station in Thua Thien Hue 650 mm, and Cham Island in Quang Nam Province, not far from tourist town Hoi An, 530 mm.

Son Ca storm has weakened into a tropical depression which entered Quang Nam and Quang Ngai Provinces to the south of Da Nang by 4 a.m. Saturday. It is forecast to continue bringing rainfall from 200 to over 400 mm in Da Nang, Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue until the end of Sunday.

Nearby provinces could receive rainfall of 100-250 mm over the two days, according to the national center, which warned about flooding in urban areas and landslides in mountainous areas.