Heavy rain in northern and central Vietnam has triggered floods and landslides that have killed 46 people, with 33 people missing in the worst such disaster in years.
Vietnam often suffers destructive storms and floods due to its long coastline. More than 200 people were killed in storms last year.
"In the past 10 years, we haven't suffered from such severe and intense floods," state-run Vietnam Television quoted agriculture minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong as saying on Thursday.
A typhoon tore a destructive path across central Vietnam just last month, flooding and damaging homes and knocking out power lines.
The latest floods hit Vietnam on Monday.
"Our entire village has had sleepless nights...it's impossible to fight against this water, it's the strongest in years," a resident in northwestern Hoa Binh province was quoted by VTV as saying.
Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said authorities were discharging water from dams to control water levels.
Some 317 homes had collapsed, while more than 34,000 other houses were submerged or had been damaged.
Earlier reports said more than 8000 hectares of rice had been damaged and around 40,000 animals were killed or washed away.
Hoa Binh province in the northwest declared a state of emergency and opened eight gates to discharge water at Hoa Binh dam, Vietnam's largest hydro-electric dam, the first time it has done so in years, VTV reported.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited northern Ninh Binh province where water levels in the Hoang Long river are their highest since 1985.
Rising sea levels are also threatening Vietnam's more than 3260 km coastline, resulting in increased flooding of low lying coastal regions, erosion and salt water intrusion.
