Kiwis Safe In Vietnam Floods - More Rain Forecast

More rain is predicted to worsen Vietnam's worst flood disaster in over 100 years.

Forty New Zealanders were trapped by flood waters in central Vietnam, but have now been able to leave the area. Flood waters have been subsiding and tourists have now been told they are free to leave their hotels.

More than 500 people have died in the floods. And seven million people are homeless.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs spokesperson James Funnell says more rain is forecasted. He says while many parts of the country are safe to visit, travellers should stay away from the central region.

South China Morning Post is reporting food and relief airdrops are getting to people stranded by the floods.

The Vietnamese Government on Sunday began airdrops of food to people stranded by the flooding.

Government workers tried to clear the main north-south road, blocked by a landslide. Rain was still falling, hampering the work of overwhelmed rescuers, and more is forecast.

The death toll has risen above 540, with more than half of the fatalities reported in Thua Thien Hue province. Hue, the ancient city, resembles buildings rising from the sea.

Red Cross officials are using a helicopter to take food and antibiotics to Hue's central hospital. Relief packages with 45 tonnes of food has also been airlifted from Guam to Hue.

Nguyen Ngoc Dong, director of the United Nations-funded Disaster Management Unit, said more than 900,000 people in Thua Thien Hue and 162,000 in Quang Nam province needed food.

Mr Dong said 6,567 houses had been destroyed and 541,000 others submerged and damaged in seven provinces that are home to nearly one-tenth of Vietnam's 76-million population.

State television reported measles and diarrhoea were rampant in Quang Tri province.

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