Vietnam issued flood warnings today after Typhoon Damrey killed five people and shattered sections of the network of sea dykes protecting the country's second most important rice growing area.
The area in Vietnam most likely to suffer floods was the province of Ninh Binh, south of Hanoi, the government's Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention said.
The lashing rains Damrey brought yesterday after killing 16 people on the Chinese island of Hainan were swelling rivers very quickly, it said.
The rains also struck Laos, where the government said it had no immediate reports of major damage.
There were also flash floods in northern Thailand, but no immediate reports of casualties from Damrey, which caused widespread economic damage and the evacuations of hundreds of thousands of people as it approached.
Vietnam's dyke system, built to withstand strong gales and protect rice fields in the north, buckled under the power of winds which topped 130 kph (80 mph) and sea surges of up to five metres.
The government said it was rushing emergency food and supplies to devastated areas to which evacuees returned only to find homes and rice fields under water.