Flood toll climbs in Vietnam

VIETNAM’S worst flooding in more than a decade has killed 34 people, mostly children, in the country’s in southern Mekong Delta region.

The floods have submerged more than 60,000 homes and caused an estimated 950 billion dong ($A45.33 million) in damage to crops and infrastructure along the southern Mekong Delta, the government said today.

In the worst hit-province of Dong Thap, six people including five children have drowned over the past two weeks, bringing the death toll there to 13.

Waters at their highest levels since 2000 have submerged nearly 24,000 hectares of rice fields and destroyed more than 1000 hectares of fruit trees, the National Steering Committee for Storm Prevention and Flood Control said.

Floods caused by heavy rain in the Central Highlands also killed two people and submerged nearly 4000 hectares or rice.

Hundreds of people have been killed across South and South-East Asia, China and Japan in the past four months from prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms.