For many here near the coastal city of Danang, which had already borne the brunt of a powerful typhoon in May that killed more than 265 people, the devastation was a second blow of tragedy from Mother Nature within months.

"I lost a 25-year-old son in typhoon Chanchu and I still owe the bank 15 million dong (930 dollars)," said Phan Thi Dung, 46, sitting in the living room of her broken house, whose roof was torn away by Xangsane's powerful winds.

"Now my mother, my two children and myself have no home," she said. Authorities said the damage in Danang alone was estimated at 200 million dollars.

Officials said around 240,000 houses were destroyed or damaged, along with more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of crops. Nearly 250 docked ships were smashed and hundreds of electricity and telephone poles downed.

"Life now is insecure, with no water supply, no electricity," said Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 54, staring at the cracks in the walls of his house caused by the storm. "All fishermen's families here are very poor."

The storm has carved a path of destruction since first touching land in the Philippines, where it left at least 76 people dead and 69 missing.

Officials put the death toll in Vietnam at 11. State media had earlier put the toll at 16 but officials said some provinces had exaggerated the numbers, possibly in order to get more relief aid from the government.

Officials expressed relief that the toll had not been higher but warned of the danger of floods and landslides in the coming days.

"We have been very efficient in the areas of warning, evacuation and prevention," said Le Huy Ngo, head of the national committee on flood and storm control. "We have now to concentrate on fighting floods."

Authorities evacuated more than 300,000 people before Xangsane made landfall in a bid to stave off a repeat of Typhoon Chanchu, whose death toll was blamed on the failure of the country's storm response system. "The preparation was good this time," said Phan Thanh Hung, head of Thua Thien-Hue province's flood and storm committee.

"The whole political system, involving authorities, social and mass organisations, army, police and the people, was mobilised."

"Local authorities and soldiers are helping people rebuild their houses, and remake school roofs so that children can get back to school hopefully Tuesday," said Nguyen Ngoc Quang, head of the flood and storm control committee in Quang Nam province.

Xangsane -- which hit Vietnam with maximum sustained winds of 148 kilometers (90 miles) an hour on Sunday -- hit Laos later Sunday, but no significant damage was reported.

The storm was on Monday downgraded to a tropical depression, according to the Hong Kong observatory and was expected to further weaken as it moved west through Thailand.

A new tropical storm headed for the Philippines on Monday, threatening to disrupt relief efforts in the aftermath of Xangsane.

Three children were killed and one was still missing after drowning in the sea in Binh Dinh province, but they were not counted as victims of the typhoon.

Meanwhile the popular tourism resort town of Hoi An seemed to have been preserved, an AFP reporter said. Only one street along the river was flooded, forcing residents to move by boat.

"Of course, we have to empty the pool and clean it. The beach is a bit of a disaster, but really we have had no major damage," said Raymond Zuest, executive assistant manager of the beach-front Victoria Hotel in Hoi An.

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