Kuala Lumpur/Hanoi/Geneva, 14 November 2020 – Millions of people in Viet Nam are bracing themselves for further floods and landslides, as the thirteenth big storm of the year threatens the country’s hard-hit central provinces.

Typhoon Vamco has caused severe flooding in Manila and across the Philippines and is now due to hit Viet Nam in areas already pummelled by successive storms.

More than 400,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the series of storms that have hit the central provinces over the past six weeks. Roads and bridges have been washed away, power supplies disrupted, and crucial food crops destroyed, leaving at least 150,000 people at immediate risk of food shortages.

Madam Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu, Viet Nam Red Cross Society President, said:

“There has been no respite for more than eight million people living in central Viet Nam. Each time they start rebuilding their lives and livelihoods, they are pummelled by yet another storm. This is heartbreaking for even the most resilient communities.

"Our greatest concerns are for the elderly and poor, as well as some 400,000 families whose homes have been destroyed or damaged and who now face this latest storm while living in temporary shelters or crowded in with relatives.”

Viet Nam Red Cross has mobilised one of its biggest relief operations ever in response to these storms, providing important relief such as food, drinking water, blankets and cooking equipment to communities devastated by floods and landslides.

Working on multiple fronts, Red Cross is helping communities prepare for the latest severe storm, including working with local authorities to sandbag properties and evacuate communities.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an Emergency Appeal for 3.9 million Swiss Francs to fund relief and recovery efforts for an estimated 160,000 people.

Christopher Rassi, Director of the Office of the Secretary General and acting Head of Country Cluster Delegation in Bangkok, IFRC, said:

“These repeated storms are having a massive impact on even the toughest of people in central Viet Nam. They need urgent immediate relief, and support for the long rebuilding process.

“Now and in the coming weeks we are redoubling our efforts to get critical relief supplies, food, drinking water, tarpaulins and blankets to all those who need it so that people can get back on their feet as soon as possible and rebuild their lives.”