Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces have been hit by serious flooding caused by several days of torrential rain, while Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai were less seriously affected, an official from the Flood and Storm Control Department for Vietnam's central region.

Rainfall in Ninh Thuan province has been recorded between 110 and 400 mm, the English-language daily Vietnam News said.

"We have not been able yet to assess precisely the financial cost of the floods. Our priority is to help people in danger," the official said.

"We need urgent help from the government because flooded areas are huge and inhabitated by millions of people."

He said Vietnam's minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Le Huy Ngo had early Friday travelled to Ninh Thuan province, where some villages are still isolated.

Flood waters are threatening dykes and swept away shrimp farms. Several thousand hectares of rice fields have been submerged.

Local authorities have called for the army to help them reach villages which have been particularly badly hit. Road and rail traffic has been disrupted.

Preventive measures have been taken to anticipate flash floods and landslides provoked by rivers breaking their banks.

In Phu Yen, "the local militaries have sent canoes to save nearly 100 workers stranded on a farm" after the level of three rivers exceeded the third and last alert level, Vietnam News said.

It is the second time within weeks the region has been hit by torrential floods. At least 44 people died in October in the same area.

Tens of thousands of homes had been submerged and thousands of hectares of crops washed away as a result of the heavy rains which have caused an estimated 18 million dollars in damage.

TERRA.WIRE