¡¡¡¡HANOI, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Twenty-one people had been killed by floods in Vietnam's central Ha Tinh province, local media reported Sunday.

¡¡¡¡In addition, floods inundated 2,654 houses and 2,500 ha of subsidiary crops, swept away 18 bridges, and damaged several portions of highway 8A running through the province.

¡¡¡¡The floods were caused by torrential rains that hit Ha Tinh andother central provinces from Sept. 18. The rains were measured at 528 mm as the highest in Ha Tinh's Huong Khe district.

¡¡¡¡Flood water in the La river in Ha Tinh was from 1-1.6 meters above the highest warning level.

¡¡¡¡Army forces and policemen in Ha Tinh were mobilized to evacuatepeople in flood-hardest hit Huong Son, Huong Khue and Duc Tho districts to higher ground.

¡¡¡¡Immediately responding to the flooding situation in Ha Tinh province, the Central Flood Control and Prevention Steering Committee held an irregular session in Ha Noi on Saturday.

¡¡¡¡Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Huy Ngo, who is the Head of the Steering Committee, ordered localities in the region to concentrate all their means and human forces to safeguard the La river dyke and evacuate those who are still in flood-affected areas to safe places.

¡¡¡¡He asked for close cooperation between the armed forces and policemen to help locals in fighting floods in these days. Enditem