The death toll in Vietnam from Tropical Storm Mirinae has risen to 99 as authorities estimated damage from the storm at 1 trillion dong (£33 million).
In the hardest-hit province Phu Yen, three districts that are home to 300,000 people remained inundated, said spokesman Nguyen Ba Loc.
Military helicopters continued to drop food and water to victims in the isolated areas, he said, and soldiers in speed boats also contributed to the relief efforts.
The death toll in Phu Yen reached 69 on Thursday, with 16 residents still missing.
Fourteen people died in the neighbouring province of Binh Dinh, with two missing, although residents there have begun returning to their homes as flood waters recede.
Elsewhere in the region, Mirinae left another 16 people dead and one missing, according to the government's website.
Officials said although their initial damage estimate is 1 trillion dong, that number is likely to rise.
Central Vietnam, one of the communist country's poorest regions, has been battered by two rounds of storms and flooding in just over a month. Ketsana killed more than 160 people in the region in late September, while in the Philippines, Ketsana and two later storms killed more than 900.
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Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:06 pm