Flooding caused by heavy rains has claimed 76 lives and left six missing, according to central provinces ’ latest statistics.

They include 15 passengers on bus 48K-5868 that was swept away by flood waters and found on Oct. 21, 24 people in Nghe An province, 20 in Ha Tinh province, 12 in Quang Binh province and five people in Thanh Hoa province.

The floods in the Ca River (Nghe An province) and rivers in Ha Tinh province have receded but 232 communes with 155,901 families remain under water.

All households in Ha Tinh province now have access to food and drinks.

Together with the assistance of the government, ministries, sectors and people nationwide, Quang Binh and Nghe An province are mobilising all resources to overcome the aftermath of the two floods. Total losses caused by the floods to Nghe An amounted to 1.7 trillion VND.

On Oct. 22 alone, organisations and individuals donated more than 11 billion VND and commodities.

To prevent environmental pollution and ensure people’s health after the floods, the pollution control department has instructed flood-affected people to strictly follow food hygiene safety.

The Vietnam Environment Protection Fund sent 1 billion VND to Quang Binh province, 500 million VND to Ha Tinh province, 400 million VND to Quang Tri province and 200 million VND to Thua Thien-Hue province to help them clean up the environment.

Meanwhile, low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific will offer free-of-charge transport of relief aid donated by social organisations and agencies to people in central flood-stricken provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh on flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh from Oct. 25 to Nov. 15.

The Australian Embassy in Hanoi said its government will donate 200,000 AUD (around 3.9 billion VND) to the Emergency Relief Aid Fund in response to the call of the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to help Vietnam ’s central flood victims.

The Australian Government’s contribution will help the VRC continue with its emergency relief activities, including providing drinks, blankets, mosquito nets, food and other necessities for flood victims.

For the same purpose, the Government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide a relief aid of 100,000 USD to the VRC./.