The International Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) has launched an emergency appeal for international support to help tropical storm Wutip victims in the central region, said the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRC) on October 10.

The campaign is expected to raise about 2.1 million CHF (2.3 million USD) to provide emergency aid for 37,500 people hardest hit by the storm.

With the money collected through the appeal, which will last until the end of July 2014, VRC hopes to give monetary assistance and essential utensils to at least 5,000 households to help them restore production activities and build and repair housing.

Along with its appeal, IFRC has allocated 266,216 CHF (292,080 USD) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support the operation.

The storm, the 10th to hit Vietnam this year and the strongest since 2006, has caused losses for central coastal provinces totalling 11 trillion VND (517 million USD).

Quang Binh was the hardest hit with losses topping 8 trillion VND, followed by Nghe An with 1.3 trillion, Ha Tinh with 1.17 trillion, Thua Thien-Hue with over 300 billion, and Thanh Hoa with 140 billion.

As of October 7, the storm had killed 14 and injured 225 others, while two people were still missing.

VRC volunteers helped to evacuate 100,000 people before the storm struck. Authorities and volunteers are striving to help locals overcome the consequences of the disaster and stabilise their lives.-VNA