Authorities in central Vietnam reported on Tuesday that the death toll from a relentless week of record-breaking floods and downpours has surged to 40, with six individuals still unaccounted for amid widespread devastation that has transformed urban streets into raging canals and overwhelmed historic landmarks. Provinces such as Hue, Da Nang, Lam Dong, and Quang Tri bore the brunt of the catastrophe, where rainfall exceeding 1.7 meters in just 24 hours shattered national records, triggering riverbank breaches, landslides, and flash floods that isolated remote communities and halted rescue operations in several areas.

The environmental ministry's disaster management agency updated the grim figures from 35 fatalities on Sunday, highlighting the escalating human cost as recovery efforts intensify in the waterlogged region. In the UNESCO-listed ancient town of Hoi An, residents like 57-year-old Tran Thi Ky expressed profound exhaustion after her home flooded three times in under 10 days, forcing families to relocate soggy furniture to higher ground in vain attempts to salvage belongings. "It's exhausting... We are tired of flooding, but what can we do?" she told AFP, capturing the collective despair of thousands displaced by the deluge.

Compounding the crisis, Typhoon Kalmaegi is barreling toward Vietnam's coast, forecast to slam ashore in the early hours of Friday with ferocious winds up to 166 kilometers per hour, potentially intensifying into a super typhoon after ravaging the central Philippines where it has already claimed at least five lives and uprooted hundreds of thousands. Vietnam's national weather bureau warned of further deluges and infrastructure strain, marking Kalmaegi as the unprecedented 13th tropical storm of 2025—far surpassing the typical annual average of 10—exacerbating the battered central belt already reeling from blocked highways and power outages.

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The floods have inflicted staggering economic and agricultural losses, submerging nearly 80,000 homes and devastating over 10,000 hectares of crops, while claiming more than 68,000 heads of cattle in a blow to local livelihoods. State media reported the collapse of approximately 15 meters of the iconic Hue Imperial Citadel wall, known as the Dai Noi, underscoring the cultural toll on one of Vietnam's most treasured heritage sites, with remote villages still cut off by debris and mudslides that continue to impede aid delivery.

Scientists attribute the surge in extreme weather frequency and intensity to human-induced climate change, which has amplified Vietnam's vulnerability during its traditional June-to-September monsoon season, turning routine rains into catastrophic events. As authorities brace for Kalmaegi's landfall, urgent evacuations and reinforcements are underway, but experts warn that without robust adaptation measures, such back-to-back disasters could overwhelm the nation's resilience, leaving lasting scars on both its people and landscapes.

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