HANOI, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll from heavy rains in central Vietnam has reached 33, with the capital Hanoi knee-deep in water, a source in the country's emergencies service said on Saturday.

Unusually heavy rains lashed the capital and its outskirts on Friday, causing major traffic jams and power cuts. Over 1,000 workers from the capital's drainage company workers have been manning pumps since early on Saturday in an attempt to remove water from the city's main highways.

Vietnamese meteorological services have reported that the downpours, which have already caused damage worth $180 million, have begun to die down.

Despite this, over 10,000 houses and 45,000 hectares of crops have been flooded, causing food prices to rise sharply. Some 82,000 people have also been left without drinking water.

Several landslides have been reported in the countryside around the capital, but no information on casualties is so far available.