HANOI, Vietnam – Downpours from a typhoon in coastal Vietnam unleashed flash floods across several mountainous regions, claiming the lives of 14 people.
Officials said Friday the death toll from Typhoon Lekima, which now stands at 17, could climb further.
"Communications with some villages worst affected by the floods were disrupted and the death toll from the floods could rise," said provincial disaster official Nguyen Truong Son.
With 80 mph winds, the typhoon made landfall late Wednesday in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces, according to disaster officials and the Department of Floods and Storms Control.
Lekima, named after a local fruit, has damaged about 77,000 homes, the Department of Floods and Storms Control said. The department set the initial damage estimate at $41 million.
Vietnam is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.
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