~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Hanoi calls for emergency aid after killer storms

HANOI - Vietnam has issued an appeal for emergency assistance for central provinces recently hit by severe storms that left at least 267 people dead and thousands homeless.

The appeal, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, was signed by the head of the communist party's mass movement umbrella organisation -- the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

Addressed to people and soldiers in the country, it called for all Vietnamese people living at home and abroad, as well as domestic and international charity, social and humane organisations to provide spiritual and material help to disaster victims.

The appeal had been circulated to a limited number of official Vietnamese media organisations but not to foreign embassies or other international groups, a Fatherland Front official said. He did not elaborate.

``Recently floods and storms have caused extremely severe consequences to people's lives and property belonging to the people and the State in (some) central provinces and the central highlands,'' the appeal said.

Severe storms Chip, Dawn and Elvis raked the central coast during the last three weeks, while torrential rains from the end of October brought heavy flooding to some areas.

The extreme weather left at least 267 people dead and 92 injured, while 16 people were listed as missing, according to the country's Disaster Management Unit (DMU). The DMU is a joint project run by the United Nations Development Programme and Vietnam's Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry.

The economic cost of the calamities was put at around $93.2 million, the DMU said. The storms destroyed 9,821 houses and left another 470,000 flooded. Some 143 schools were destroyed and 1,480 damaged, while the total number of destroyed or damaged bridges was put at around 1,900.

Official media reported on Tuesday that the government has decided to provide $16.4 million in emergency aid to the stricken areas.

Reuters - December 01, 1998.