Floods generated by a tropical storm caused the deaths of more than 21 people in Vietnam. There were also 22 people reported missing so the death toll is expected to rise, officials said Saturday.

Despite being downgraded to a tropical storm when it reached Vietnam on Wednesday Typhoon Lekima’s rainstorms ravaged central and northern Vietnam.

More than 2,000 soldiers were deployed to help at the relief efforts as many people are still trapped due to the high levels of the floodwaters and are very hard to reach.  

In the northern region of Son La, five people were reported dead and other five missing as the floods devastated the area, spokesman Hoang A Pua of the province's Flood and Storm Department stated.

"We are searching for the missing at the moment now that the rains have started to subside," said Pua. "But there is little hope that the missing are still alive."

In Quang Binh province the tempest destroyed or damaged more than 29,000 homes and the flying debris injured people who weren’t able to find shelter. Specialists reported about 33 people injured by flying objects. In the adjacent province of Ha Tinh, 25 people were injured and more than 42,000 homes were left in ruins.

Water levels have reached record highs in several Vietnamese provinces, especially in Nghe An province in central Vietnam and in Thanh Hoa province there were recorded 788 millimeters of water over the past three days.

With the waters reaching record levels in Nghe an province, about 186 miles south of Hanoi, at least six people perished and 14 other are missing.

"It's the worst flooding in years in Nghe An," Thong said. "In Quy Chau district, the water level has reached a 20-year high."

The death toll would have probably been much higher, but fortunately hundreds of thousands of people were removed from the areas predisposed to flooding. Vietnamese authorities ordered the evacuation of about 500.000 people as the preparations were being made.

The officials estimated the damages caused by Typhoon Lekima worth a total of 41 million dollars and the bad news are not over for Vietnam as the tail of Typhoon Krosa is expected to hit the country on its was to Taiwan.