A massive cleanup effort is underway in flood-ravaged areas in Penang on Monday. As the flood waters recede, displaced families across the state returned to their ruined homes to assess the damage and start the clean-up work. Malaysia’s Minister for Natural Resources and Environment on Monday said the government will spend 4.3 billion ringgit (US$1.01 billion) on 16 flood mitigation projects over the next few months. Seven people have died and thousands evacuated as Penang was inundated with up to four meters of water after an 18-hour storm ended Sunday morning. Meanwhile in Vietnam, Damrey, the strongest typhoon to make landfall in southern Vietnam in 16 years, has left at least 49 people dead, with hundreds of homes destroyed.