Of the victims, 14 people were killed, 11 others went missing andanother person was injured in Lai Chau province, reported the Standing Officeof the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
Floods also pulled down or swept away 124 houses, damaged 597 homes and submerged1,500 others.
In addition, more than 1,200 hectares of rice and crops were inundatedor destroyed, while 46 hectares of aquaculture were damaged and 196 cattleheads and over 5,900 poultry were killed.
Total damage was estimated at 443.8 billion VND (around 19.5 millionUSD), including 122 billion VND in Ha Giang, 300 billion VND in Lai Chau andthe remainder in neighbouring provinces.
Traffic on many road sections in the provinces was interrupted as theywere eroded or submerged.
Heavy rains have sparked floods and landslides in the northernmountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Lai Chau since June 23.
On June 26, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and officials from theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development made a field trip to Lai Chau toinspect the post-flood work.
The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention andControl had issued a dispatch to instruct Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, SonLa, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces to enhancedissemination on natural disaster prevention through mass media, in Vietnameseand ethnic languages, in order to minimise losses due to rains and floods.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also issued a dispatch askingrelevant ministries, sectors and localities to focus resources on search andrescue along with activities to overcome flood consequences in northernmountainous and midland provinces.
The dispatch stressed need to safely operate reservoirs and ensuresafety in dams and dykes routes in the affected localities, as well as smoothtraffic on the key national roads.-VNA