Church groups have joined rescue operations across central Vietnam after torrential rains and floods since Oct. 22 killed at least ten people and forced thousands from their homes, officials said. The Agriculture and Environment Ministry said about 100,000 houses in Hue and Da Nang were inundated, with floodwaters reaching up to four meters in some areas.
More than 150 landslides were reported and 2,200 hectares of crops were damaged across the region.
As emergency teams battled rising waters, Catholic aid workers mobilized quickly. Father Philippe Hoang Linh, deputy director of Caritas in the Hue Archdiocese, said church volunteers used boats to deliver food and drinking water to hundreds stranded in flooded homes. “We have to use boats to navigate narrow alleys to deliver food and drinking water — a gesture of humanity that rekindles hope amid hardship,” he said. Many church facilities, including the Hue Archbishop’s House and Pastoral Centre, were flooded, while parishes on higher ground opened their doors to shelter displaced families. In Quy Lai Parish, priests and laypeople distributed noodles and drinking water. “We’re trying to help people survive this difficult time. Many have lost all their food and belongings,” said Father John Baptist Pham Xu. Residents said floodwaters rose rapidly after hydropower plants released water from swollen reservoirs. “The water reached chest level inside our house, and electricity has been out since Oct. 27,” said Peter Nguyen, a Hue resident and father of two. “Much of our furniture was swept away.”
