The death toll includes three residents of the Da Bac area in Phu Tho province, northwest of Hanoi, who died in a landslide on Thursday evening. A fourth victim, a first-year student at Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, was found dead on Friday at the entrance to a drainage system in the city’s southwest. The student had been missing since Thursday, and residents had discovered their motorbike near the sewer entrance, suggesting they were swept away by floodwaters.
The flooding has caused extensive damage to infrastructure and agriculture. More than 59,305 acres of rice, vegetables, and other crops were submerged, while an additional 2,900 acres of aquaculture areas were affected. The Bui River, which flows through rural areas southwest of Hanoi, rose to dangerous levels on Thursday, isolating dozens of households. In response, local authorities evacuated 150 families, comprising more than 500 people, from low-lying zones. Disaster response and search-and-rescue plans have been activated across the affected regions.
Transportation has been severely impacted, with 11 landslides and flooding at 30 locations affecting national and provincial roads. The Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City railway was submerged to a depth of approximately one meter, forcing the suspension of several north-south train services on Thursday and Friday. In Thanh Hoa province, which was among the worst-hit areas alongside Ninh Binh, more than 29,000 officials and soldiers were mobilized for emergency aid operations.
Vietnam, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, faces compounded risks from rising sea levels and increasingly extreme rainfall events. The country is prone to flooding due to its long typhoon-prone coastline and large populations residing in low-lying coastal cities. This event follows a series of severe storms in 2025, including Tropical Storm Wipha in July, Tropical Storm Kajiki in August, and Typhoon Bualoi in September, which killed at least 26 people. In October, historic cities in central Vietnam, including Hue and Hoi An, also experienced significant flooding alongside the northern regions.
Heavy rainfall is expected to continue through the weekend, with some areas in the northern region forecast to receive over 100 millimeters of rain. The region has already experienced substantial precipitation since Monday, with some locations recording as much as 653 millimeters (26 inches). While the rain in the north stopped on Thursday, the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Station warned that heavy rain will persist across southern Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, through October 10. This persistent rainfall is attributed to the active intertropical convergence zone.
In the south, water levels in rivers and canals are expected to rise due to the early ninth lunar-month high-tide cycle. Tidal peaks are forecast twice daily, with evening high tides coinciding with periods of heavier rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding in low-lying and riverside areas. The highest tides are predicted between October 10 and 12, with water levels in Ho Chi Minh City potentially rising 0.1 to 0.17 meters above the alert level 3 threshold.
