At least 41 people have died and 31 are missing in floods that have left swathes of southeastern Yemen underwater, President Ali Abdullah Saleh told reporters on Saturday.

Around 1,700 houses have also been destroyed by the floods.

At least 500 homes have been damaged and hundreds of families displaced by the floods that swept the southeastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra following 30 hours of heavy rainfall, they said.

Yemeni authorities have declared the eastern provinces to be a disaster area and President Ali Abdullah Saleh visited some of the worst hit areas on Friday.

Reuters