5-12-2025 (HANOI) Fresh torrential rains have claimed two lives in Vietnam’s south-central regions, unleashing over a dozen landslides and forcing hundreds from their homes amid widespread flooding. The downpours, remnants of Storm Koto, struck hardest in Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces overnight into Friday, submerging sections of National Highways 1A and 20 under up to one meter of water and isolating neighborhoods in areas like Hong Son Commune and Nha Trang’s suburbs.
In Lam Dong alone, 16 landslides damaged roads and bridges, while thousands of homes flooded, prompting authorities to evacuate low-lying households via loudspeaker warnings and relocate residents to higher ground.
This latest assault follows weeks of extreme weather, including November floods that killed 98 and caused over $614 million in damage across similar provinces. Vietnam’s disaster agency called 2025 a record year for calamities, with 21 storms—the most since 1961—driving over 400 deaths nationwide and $3.6 billion in losses from unprecedented rainfall and river surges.
