HANOI — Flooding in Vietnam has killed at least 34 people since Friday, with 11 others missing, reports said, after a tropical storm dumped heavy rain across the country’s central regions.

Tropical storm Podul brought as much as 500mm of rain to parts of central Vietnam, forcing about 100,000 people to evacuate flood zones, including hotel guests in Hoi An, a United Nations World Heritage Site.

Some 99,000 houses were damaged and at least 1,800ha of rice and other crops submerged, the National Committee for Flood and Storm Control said on its website yesterday.

Podul struck early last Friday along a 400km stretch from Thua Thien-Hue to Phu Yen provinces, four days after Typhoon Haiyan hit the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh. Roads have been closed and some national train services cancelled.

The central region often suffers from floods and storms between July and October. Rain has disrupted the coffee harvest and bean-drying in central highland provinces, delaying the flow of beans to sea ports. Vietnam is the world’s top robusta coffee producer, accounting for around 17 per cent of global output. AGENCIES