Rain stops in Vietnam, but flood toll rises to 92

updated 12:04 a.m. ET Nov. 5, 2008

HANOI, Vietnam - The death toll from a week of flooding across large sections of Vietnam rose to 92 on Wednesday as life returned to normal in the capital, with flood waters receding and residents cleaning up their homes.

Another seven bodies were found in northern Vietnam, including two more in the capital, bringing the death toll in Hanoi to 22 and the overall toll to 92, authorities said.

Weather forecasters say the rains in Hanoi were the worst in 35 years.

At the height of the flooding, more than 100 Hanoi neighborhoods were under at least a foot of water, but by Wednesday only five neighborhoods were submerged, said Nguyen Anh Tu of the city's drainage company.

"Our main pump station is running 24 hours a day, pumping 4 million cubic meters of excess water a day," he said. "We hope the water will recede completely from metropolitan Hanoi in the next two days."

Only scattered showers were predicted in Hanoi for the next few days, forecasters said.

Hanoi residents, meanwhile, continued cleaning homes covered with a mix of mud, debris and garbage washed in by the floods.

Nguyen Van Hai, 34, and his family of three moved back home Wednesday after spending five days with his in-laws. He had taken the day off the clean his house.

"Our first floor is covered with 10 centimeters (4 inches) of mud," he said. "It's so smelly."

Five more bodies were found late Tuesday in two northern provinces near Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang.

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