Hoi An Flood November 2007
ByShrieking winds sheared the foaming tops from the high waves as the tropical typhoon off the Phillipines tracked toward the east cost of central Vietnam. In Nha Trang we heard from travellers about the flash floods in Da Nang and Hoi An as the outer edges of the Typhoon dumped huge amounts of water on the land. Wet and bedraggled travellers told of rail links being cut off to the north of us and buses travelling on flooded roads, soaking rucksacks loaded in the luggage compartments under the buses.
As the blue skies and turquoise waters of Nha Trang bay darkened and the wind picked up we decided to ride out the storm there. To the north a crocodile farm with 5000 animals was inundated allowing 500 crocodiles to swim free. So far only two have been recaptured allowing the rest to fan out into the flooded paddy fields and villages. Then the news that the typhoon was turning south toward Nha Trang and Saigon. So we took a bus north, crossing under the storm front as we inched along the hairpin bends of coastal Highway One in lashing rain and strong winds. The railway line was still deep under brown muddy water.
All night we drove steadily north eventually reaching a flooded Hoi An in the grey light of dawn. By then the worst of the storm had passed south. Speaking to fatigued shop owners they spoke of flood water two metres deep. They said this was the worst flooding in the town since 1988. The army were already shovelling up thick oozing mud and the fire department were hosing mud and debris back into the river. Slowly life was returning to normal in this picturesque town.
