Attending the ground-breaking ceremonies of the first three houses in Suoi Bang Commune, deputy head of the ministry's office, Nguyen Hong Nguyen, expressed the hope that local people would have more settled lives after they had new homes.

"The severe flooding last month damaged more than 2,500 houses, with many being destroyed in Son La," he said. "We've decided to provide financial aid of VND50 million each to 114 hardest-hit families to help them build new homes."

At the Wednesday ground-breaking ceremony, local authorities sent a team to help lay the foundations of the three first houses in Suoi Bang Commune.

A resident, Quach Thi Hai, said she was delighted to see her new home being built with the ministry's and local authorities' support.

"Our old house had been swept away in a flash flood last month," Hai said. "We've had to move to a relative's house temporarily. I want to send my sincere thanks to the government and local authorities for this valuable support."

In addition to Son La, the ministry has raised funds to help build new houses for nearly 200 low-income families in seven other northern mountainous localities ravaged by recent landslides and flash floods. The house construction is expected to be completed by October.