The Hydro Meteorological Center in the mid central region said that torrential rainfall that lasted from Monday through Tuesday afternoon has caused flooding in several areas.
The heavy downpour in Da Nang City and Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue Provinces measured 50-70mm or upto 100mm in places, inundating or flattening hundreds of hectares of summer autumn rice crop which was ready for harvest.
Some streets like Do Quang and Hai Ho in Da Nang City were badly flooded, resulting in heavy traffic congestion.
Some residential areas in Lien Chieu District were also inundated under 0.5m of floodwaters, which flowed into houses, damaging furniture and belongings.
In related news, in the middle of the torrential rain on Monday night, thousands of residents caused a stampede after a tsunami rumor spread in Nghia An Commune of Tu Nghia District and Duc Loi Commune of Mo Duc District in Quang Ngai Province.
Do Ngoc Tay, chairman of the People’s Committee in Nghia An Commune, said that the rumor began at 11pm on Monday, when rain was falling very heavily and strong winds were lashing the area.
In the pitch black night, local people mobilized all kinds of boats to be able to cross to the other side of the river.
Several people even evacuated Quang Ngai City, which is ten kilometers from their homes, to take shelter in safer areas.
Although local authorities announced via the media that there was no tsunami threat and dispatched forces to convince residents, people still refused to be believe otherwise.
Now all the people have returned home by Tuesday morning after fleeing for one night.
Mr. Tay has reported the matter to provincial authorities, asking them to investigate the source of this damaging rumor.
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