Photo: khoahoc.com.vn

PANO – The U.S government provided more support for Vietnamese typhoon victims, announced the U.S Embassy in Hanoi today.

The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), provided $250,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for relief efforts to aid victims affected by flooding from Typhoon Mirinae. 

This support to communities in Vietnam’s central Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, and Phu Yen provinces brings the total U.S. government support for typhoon victims in Vietnam this year to $1 million.

Mirinae hit nine provinces in the center of Vietnam on November 2, with Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, and Phu Yen enduring the heaviest damage. The storm has claimed the lives of 123 Vietnamese and stranded thousands more. Nearly 50,000 houses have been damaged by flooding, and more than 2,000 of those have collapsed.

The latest contribution of $250,000 from the American people will fund basic emergency relief items such as blankets, water containers, cooking pots, mosquito nets, soap, and water purification tablets to more than 28,000 people who have been badly affected by the typhoon.

This assistance follows $750,000 in U.S. support to victims of typhoon Ketsana that slammed into Vietnam's central provinces in late September, displacing nearly 200,000 people and claiming 163 lives.  Relief items including household and hygiene kits were distributed to over 80,000 Ketsana victims immediately after the storm and a cash relief program is currently under way to help families in several coastal provinces recover.

Ngoc Hung