At least 11 people have died and several more are missing in heavy flooding in central Vietnam, state media said on Saturday, with tens of thousands of homes completely submerged by water.



The communist government has ordered local authorities to mobilise the army and police to rescue trapped residents following heavy downpours, state-run Vietnam television reported.

The channel said at least 11 had died in the flooding with some 27,000 homes under water in the region.

Local official Nguyen Huu Hoai said the death toll was seven in Quang Binh province, but added that conditions were improving.

Submerged homes are seen in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Binh. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

“We can reach areas which were isolated by flooding,” the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said.

Though rainfall is expected to ease, officials warned the region could be hammered again if typhoon Sarika in the South China Sea reaches Vietnam.

Meteorologists say that the 2016 Asian monsoon is one of the strongest in many years, and has been intensified by the El Niño natural phenomenon which sees Pacific water temperatures rise and leads to droughts and severe weather worldwide.