Hard recovery ahead as floods in northern Vietnam destroy lives

Almost all building structures and contents are gone. Most of the district of Muong La is now just a barren mud and stone field. 

Many temporary houses are under construction, but many people still live in tents.

A nearly 10sq.m hut provides temporary accommodation for five people of the La Van Chay family in the hamlet of Huoi Lieng in the village of Nam Pam.

Mr Chay says a motorbike and buffalo, which are his most valuable assets, are gone, swept away by the flood.

Three families with 15 people stay in a temporary hut in Hoc Hamlet.

Bamboo shoots and instant noodles are the main food of the Oang Thi Tho family and two other households.

Tho says her family and others rarely have a chance to eat dried fish donated by local authorities and charitable organizations.

Almost all property of local people disappears in the flood water.