Hanoi - The death toll from Tropical Storm Mirinae in central Vietnam has risen to 33, the country's National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control reported Wednesday. Vietnamese newspapers reported higher death tolls, with figures running as high as 41 dead and nine missing.
Several areas in the provinces of Phu Yen and Binh Dinh were cut off by floodwaters. Troops using boats and helicopters were still rescuing locals trapped on the roofs of houses on Wednesday.
Streets in several towns were reportedly under 1.5 to 2 metres of water after rivers overflowed their banks.
Coastguards in the port city of Danang rescued 12 seamen Tuesday afternoon from a Cambodian freighter, the Lucky Dragon, that went missing after broadcasting a distress signal Monday night. The freighter, carrying 2,600 tons of steel from China to Ho Chi Minh City, broke up and sank in heavy seas after its engine failed.
The crew of eight Myanmar and four Chinese seamen was taken to hospital for observation.
Vietnam Airlines said at least 50 flights had been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, affecting about 4,800 passengers, but all flights had resumed on Wednesday.
The storm brought winds of up to 133 kilometres per hour (kph) and dumped up to 600 millimetres of rain when it came ashore Monday morning in the central provinces of Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai and Khanh Hoa. It also affected the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and Dak Lak, Vietnam's main coffee growing area.
Some reports indicated the rains had spoiled the drying of coffee in Vietnam's Central Highlands. But a storm official in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak said the coffee industry had not been much affected. Only about 400 hectares were destroyed.
National authorities said a total of 94 fishing boats had been sunk at their wharfs and 754 houses destroyed.
More than 2,500 hectares of rice and 2,300 hectares of vegetables were destroyed or flooded.
Vietnam evacuated over 27,000 people from storm-affected areas to evade landslides. Authorities had warned 18,000 fishing boats carrying 104,000 fishermen to take shelter in advance of the storm.
The storm had reportedly weakened to a tropical low pressure zone over Cambodia by early Wednesday, weather authorities said.
Authorities issued warnings of continued heavy rain, flash floods and landslides throughout central Vietnam.
Mirinae was rated as a typhoon when it struck the Philippines over the weekend, killing at least 19 people.
Authorities said losses in Vietnam were low because residents were still cautious after the experience of Typhoon Ketsana in September.
Ketsana killed at least 246 people in the Philippines and 172 in Vietnam, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in each country.
