BANGKOKSevere floods and landslides, fuelled by a pair of tropical storms striking in quick succession, have caused “catastrophic” damage in parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. A third storm is projected to hit inundated central Vietnam within days. The brunt of the damage is in central Vietnam, where some 178,000 homes are submerged and at least 900,000 people are directly affected. A third storm, Saudel, could make landfall in central Vietnam around 25 October, hitting areas still freshly flooded, after crossing Luzon, the Philippines’ largest island, on 20 October. Upstream dams are increasingly driving volatile water levels throughout the Mekong River system, environmental groups say.