After five days of raging floods and incessant rains, huge numbers of people have become increasingly desperate for food and other supplies despite the best efforts of the military-led relief operation.

Television broadcast pictures of helicopter mercy missions being swamped by hungry, drenched villagers as bodies piled up in homes because flood waters were still too high for burial.

Residents have also begun to complain about the sky-rocketing prices of essentials such as rice and kerosene. Statistics compiled from official media and relief agencies showed more than 470 people had died from the floods. In the worst affected province of Thua Thien-Hue, 308 were dead.Official media havesaid most of the region of seven million faced food shortages and illness, although on Sunday the Red Cross put the number at around a million.

Officials have estimated damage in central Vietnam so far at 44 million dollars. The region is Vietnam's poorest and does not make a major contribution to economic growth. Essential industry and agriculture are located mainly in the south.

Despite the difficulties, foreign relief officials praised Vietnam's attempts to get food to the needy across seven provinces that stretch for some 560 km.

``We're seeing really impressive cooperation with Vietnam's military,'' John Geoghegan, head of delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Vietnam, told Reuters television at Hue airport.

As he spoke, scores of soldiers swarmed over the airport, unloading emergency flights and stacking boxes of noodles and sacks of rice on trucks for distribution into the interior. People have also come forward with donations of cash, food andclothing across Vietnam, one of the world's poorest countries, with its population of 79 million earning annual per capita incomes just above 300 dollars.

Floods and typhoons regularly lash the long, narrow coastal nation. Vietnam television said that the key Hai Van pass between central Danang city and Hue could be reopened later Sunday. Rains pounded parts of the region overnight, with 100 cm falling on Quang Binh province alone, it added.The national voice of Vietnam radio said a million homes had been damaged and hospitals were full of victims. Vtv has reported that some young children faced malnutrition in Thua Thien-Hue province.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has ordered all available military personnel and government officials to participate in the rescue and relief work. On Friday, Khai ordered 8,400 tonnes of rice sent to the region. The affected areas include some famous tourist spots, from ancient Hue to China beach in Danang, a favoured playground of American GIs during the Vietnam war, and thecenturies-old trading port of Hoi An.