Relief agencies battled to provide food, medicine and clean water to Vietnamese villagers nearly a week after a typhoon triggered some of the worst flooding and landslides in decades.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies today made a worldwide appeal for €2 million in emergency money to help 193,000 people as a compilation of provincial reports showed 88 were killed and 11 still missing.
Red Cross officials said the money would help buy mosquito nets, blankets, kitchen sets, water and water containers, rice and building materials for victims of the disaster.
Food shortages and water-borne diseases were major concerns, officials said.
"We are calling on rice suppliers to sign another contract for delivering rice to the flood areas in one to two weeks," IFRC coordinator Thao Van Danh said in Hanoi.
Floods submerged nearly 31,000 hectares (76,600 acres) of rice in northern and central provinces, creating food shortages. Relief workers have been taking rice from state reserves to give to flood victims.
Typhoon Lekima struck central Vietnam on the night of October 3rd. The storm and its aftermath caused property damage estimated at nearly €120 million.