Viet Nam Farmers Lose Their Blooms As Floods Claim Crops

Vietnamese farmers lost tens of thousands of dollars after their valuable peach blossom crop and kumquat trees were swamped by muddy waters in Hanoi's worst flooding in two decades. More than 250,000 hectares of crops, including rice, vegetables and fruit trees, have been destroyed across typhoon-hit northern Viet Nam.

Some of the steepest losses in the north of Hanoi are among farmers growing peach blossom -which can fetch up to $400 per tree ahead of Tet, Vietnam's lunar new year celebrations. The crop in Hanoi has been partially submerged for more than two days and even those trees expected to survive will not bloom this season. The price of vegetables has increased by 50 percent or even doubled.