Natural disasters left 173 dead or missing and injured 168 others in the month to October 21, reported the Statistics General Department.
Damages were estimated at over 8.5 trillion VND, of which the central province of Ha Tinh alone suffered 5.2 trillion VND in losses from typhoon Megi.
The other two hard-hit central provinces of Quang Binh and Nghe An were reported as suffering damages worth some 1.9 trillion VND and 1.2 trillion VND, respectively.
In an effort to help victims recover, the Prime Minister has ordered the disbursement of 660 billion VND from the State hedge budget and free supply of 11,000 tonnes of rice from the national rice reserves for disaster-hit areas.
In general, relief aid from various sources totalled almost 700 billion VND, over 14,000 tonnes of rice, over 153 tonnes of instant noodles, 58,000 boxes of mineral water bottles and many other daily necessities.
Weather forecasters have warned of further complicated developments of natural disasters during the rest of the year, asking responsible agencies to stay alert and strictly follow the Prime Minister’s recent urgent guidelines on storm and flood control./.
