Hanoi (VNA) - Some 150,000 flood survivors in central Vietnam will be in urgent need of food aid over the next five to six months, while 110,000 vulnerable people will require support to recover their livelihoods and agricultural production, the Disaster Risk Reduction Partnership (DRRP) reported at a meeting in Hanoi on October 26.
The report was prepared by three groups of experts from the DRRP who were sent to affected central provinces from Quang Binh to Quang Ngai on October 22 and 23 to assess flood damage and the needs of survivors.
It also showed that around 7 million people in affected areas are living in temporary shelters or in vulnerable structures or houses. Those whose homes were submerged in floodwater are not likely to return to normality for three or five weeks.
DRRP partners have delivered emergency aid to the central region in response to a call for relief and international assistance from the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) has sent more than 30 tonnes of emergency supplies to Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces. The Vietnam Red Cross Society has provided flood-hit areas with 1,200 family goods packs and 500 boxes of P&G purifier powder, while the World Health Organisation has aided the six hardest-hit provinces with 320,000 Oasis water purification tablets.
Water supply systems in flood-stricken provinces have been seriously damaged, causing water shortages.
In this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested that provincial people’s committees provide cheap and clean water to households affected. It will also urgently send 10,000 water tanks to Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue./.