Floods kill 4, destroy rice crops in central Vietnam

Four people have died and thousands of hectares of rice paddy have been destroyed as heavy rain caused floods in central Vietnam over the weekend, authorities said Tuesday. About 300 to 600 millimetres of rain on average fell on Nghe An and Ha Tinh province from September 8 to 12, the National Steering Committee on Storm and Flood Control reported. Among the casualties were a 40-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter who died after being swept away by flood water, their bodies were discovered Monday. The floods destroyed nearly 70,000 hectares of rice, and damaged more than 1,600 houses and 50 schools, the committee said. Total losses were estimated at $36 million, according to a report of the German Press Agency "DPA"