Yemen ? Mohammed bin Gohar saw an old woman drowning in flood waters from a deadly tropical storm in southern Yemen, but couldn’t save her. He was carrying his two kids and running with his wife to escape the deluge.

“The only thing I could do was hug my kids and run away with my wife as water reached our chest,” the 33-year-old said Saturday. “I heard people screaming from houses just few steps from my house.”

The death toll, now at 58 according to the government, could rise since scores of people are still missing and hundreds of families are homeless or trapped by the flood waters, said Hamid el-Kharashi, a police chief in the remote southern province of Hadramut.

Damage from the storm, which first struck Thursday, has been extensive in Hadramut – Yemen’s largest province – because most homes are made of mud brick. The government has struggled to distribute relief supplies because the floods have washed out many roads.