Flood in Hoi An city (Photo VNA)


Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen
Xuan Phuc on November 5 sent a message asking all authorities and agencies to
quickly repair the damage caused by typhoon Damrey, which has wreaked havoc in
the central and south central coast of Vietnam.

The PM urged leaders of provinces directly hit
by the storm to maximise efforts to search for and rescue missing people.

He also requested local authorities and
ministries to support disaster victims by providing accommodation, medical and
food aid, guiding people to take measures to prevent post-flood outbreak of
pandemic, repairing damaged houses and restoring the power network while
ensuring the safety of dams and reservoirs.

He ordered them to mobilise all forces and means
needed to restore traffic along key roads, especially the National Railway 1
and the North-South Railway.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung
visited several localities in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces to inspect the
damage caused by the typhoon and direct relief efforts.

Typhoon Damrey, the 12th major storm to hit
Vietnam this year, made landfall on November 4 morning with winds of up to
135km per hour. The hardest hit regions include the south central provinces of
Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Binh Dinh, the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak,
Dak Nong and Lam Dong, and the central provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Tri and
Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang city.

The storm killed 29 people and left 29 others
unaccounted for as of 1:00 pm on November 5, according to the Central Steering
Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Initial estimates showed that the typhoon levelled
more than 600 houses, damaged nearly 40,000 homes and flooded about 30,000
hectares of fields of rice, vegetables and other crops.

About 230 fishing ships and vessels were either
sunk or ruined while nearly 1,500 fish farms were damaged.

The Standing Board of the Vietnam Fatherland
Front (VFF) Central Committee decided to allocate 3 billion VND (132,000 USD)
to the hardest hit regions.

The funds will be used to provide relief aid
families of the deceased, missing and injured, and those whose houses collapsed
or were swept away.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society released emergency
aid, including money and essential goods valued at nearly 1.1 billion VND
(48,257 USD) to help the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Dak
Lak.-VNA