At least 22 people died and 13 others went missing in weekend storms that pummelled mountainous northern Vietnam, the government's disasters office said on Monday.

The worst of the damage occurred in the province of Bac Kan, where 13 of the total number of dead perished, said the National Flood and Storm Control Committee.

Flash floods "swept away everything in their path," the newspaper Thanh Nien quoted one local village chief, Ma Van Thoa, as saying.

Rescuers continued to search for those who were missing, while local authorities were working to provide emergency food aid and evacuate households at risk, the newspaper reported.

However television reports said several parts of the province remained cut off and communication with remote villages was difficult.

The government said nearly 530 houses had been damaged and 600 hectares (1,480 acres) of rice and other crops had been inundated.

A total of six mountainous provinces were affected by flooding, resulting from over 30 centimetres of rainfall.

Vietnam's flood and storm season generally starts in July and lasts until November.

Last year at least 550 people died in disasters triggered by bad weather, the national statistics office said earlier.