ULAN BATOR, Aug.2 (Xinhua)-- The Mongolian Red Cross Society announced on Thursday it would offer direct financial assistance to a total of 457 households affected by severe flooding in four provinces of the country.

Each of the 457 households, including 200 families in Bayan-Ulgii and 187 families in Khovd in the west could receive 240,000 tugrik (97 U.S. dollars) through commercial banks to meet their basic needs, the humanitarian organization said in a statement.

Heavy downpours have been hitting large parts of Mongolia since the beginning of July, triggering massive flooding in some areas.

Bayan-Ulgii, the worst affected province, has suffered direct economic losses of over 15 billion tugriks (over 6 million dollars) as a result, according to the latest estimate.

Furthermore, more than 116 km of roads in 29 locations in 13 provinces have been damaged following massive flooding caused by heavy rains since July.

The government of Mongolia on Wednesday decided to allocate 1.3 billion tugrik (528 million dollars) to renovate the damaged roads.

Heavy rainfall across Mongolia is forecast to continue until mid-August and citizens have been urged to take extra precautions against expected disasters.