Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamesepeople both home and abroad are joining hands to support flood-hit residents inthe central region, which has suffered heavy losses of life and property overrecent days.
On October 21, the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)held an online event bringing together its offices in Hanoi, central Da Nangcity, and Ho Chi Minh City to raise donations.
Noting the serious consequences of flooding inprovinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue and with another storm forecast to makelandfall in the region in the days ahead, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loicalled upon all staff to join the entire political system’s efforts to sharethe pain and losses facing compatriots in the central region.
Donations totalling 600 million VND (nearly26,000 USD) were collected, with the funds to be delivered to central provincesvia the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.
The Vietnamese Business Association and theVietnamese Students’ Association in Australia have also made appeals over thelast few days to overseas Vietnamese to assist those in distress in theirhomeland.
Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Students’Association in Australia Huynh Tan Dat said it raised over 3,000 AUD (over2,100 USD) in three days, from October 17, from members and other donors.
In the state of Victoria, VSM, a group ofVietnamese students in Melbourne, launched a donation campaign on October 16.Its founder, Nguyen Duc Quyet, said that, in less than a week, it raised nearly40,000 AUD.
On October 20, the Vietnamese Embassy in Canadaalso launched a donation campaign, organised online with the participation ofVietnam’s representative agencies and expatriates in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal,Quebec City, and elsewhere.
As of 7 am on October 21, flooding that began onOctober 6 had killed 111 people and left 22 missing in the central region. Some371 ha of rice paddies and 7,126 ha of crops have been submerged, and a largenumber of cattle and poultry killed or swept away, according to the StandingOffice of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention andControl./.