'Scared': Desperate Vietnamese Flee Flood-hit Homes

Hanoi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Sep, 2024) Nguyen Thi Hue lingers in the alley where she lives on the banks of Hanoi's Red River, afraid it will be the last time she sees her home as severe floods threaten the capital in the wake of Typhoon Yagi.

She is one of thousands of people forced from their homes in the Vietnamese capital as the turbid brown waters of the swollen river rise to levels not seen in more than 15 years.

"I am scared that my house will be taken away by the river if the water level keeps rising," Hue told AFP, adding that she saw some cracks spreading across the floor.

"I'm worried and scared," she said.

Carrying televisions and other home appliances, Hue and her neighbours were among the last residents of communities living next to the fast-moving river to evacuate their houses.

A colossal deluge of rain brought by Yagi -- the most powerful typhoon to hit northern Vietnam in 30 years -- has swollen the Red River and its tributaries and triggered floods and landslides in more than a dozen provinces, killing at least 82 people.

In Hanoi, authorities said floods on the Red River had reached their highest levels since 2008.

"We have seen the water level rise by more than one metre (three feet) since Monday morning," said Hanoi resident Le Thanh Bon, who was planning to sleep at a guesthouse Tuesday night.

Bon said floods in 2008 had forced him onto his rooftop, waiting for rescue, and he was afraid the same would happen again.

"It's good that we evacuate. We are prepared," Bon told AFP.