(Updates toll, storm weakening)

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Nine people died, 15 were missing and thousands needed urgent evacuation as heavy rains triggered floods in Vietnam's central region and the nearby Central Highlands coffee belt.

The rains and floods struck ahead of a storm that had come close to the central coast by early Monday but then moved further north into the Tonkin Gulf where it weakened into a depression, the national weather bureau said.

The depression, with winds of up to 61 km (38 miles) per hour at its centre, was 200 km east off the central city of Danang as of 0900 GMT on Monday and moving slowly northwest.

Rains of up to 400 mm (15.75 in) have drenched the coffee-growing region since Wednesday, triggering flash floods, the government said.

Traders said the coffee crop was not at risk.

FLASH FLOODS

Two people were killed and 14 were missing after flash floods swept them away in the highland province of Daklak, while four people died in the neighbouring province of Lam Dong.

In Gia Lai province, north of Daklak, floods killed a 41-year-old man and forced more than 450 people out of their houses, the Vietnam Net newspaper (www.vietnamnet.vn) said.

Daklak and Lam Dong are Vietnam's top coffee growing provinces, accounting for half its output. Along with three other provinces in the Central Highlands, they produce 80 percent of the country's coffee.

Industry experts say the coffee crop is safe as most of the trees are planted on hillsides. The hilly terrain would also help flush water away quickly.

Besides, rains last week helped green coffee cherries develop and harvesting will not start until late October.

But 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of mainly rice and corn have been submerged in the Central Highlands.

Flood waters peaked in a river in Daklak and were rising in another river in Kontum province, state forecasters said.

Heavy rains were expected in the coffee region and also in coastal provinces from Thanh Hoa to Danang city in the next days.

Oil and gas production in Vietnam, Southeast Asia's third-largest crude oil producer, has not been disrupted as all the oil rigs and facilities are south of the storm's path.

Tropical storms and typhoons often strike Vietnam from August to October. Last year 10 storms hit the country where about 500 people were killed by floods and landslides, the government said.

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