The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi on Friday announced over US$1 million in emergency assistance and longer-term disaster risk reduction support to Vietnam to help the country respond to the impacts of Typhoon Damrey and future disasters.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J. Kritenbrink made the announcement on behalf of the U.S. government, a press release the same day read.

Typhoon Damrey made landfall in south-central Vietnam last week, packing winds of up to 135 kilometers per hour.

It hit 50 kilometers south of Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, and became one of the worst storms to strike Vietnam’s central coast in years.

A truck overturns while traveling from Nha Trang to Da Nang due to the impact of Typhoon Damrey. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The typhoon brought torrential rains to the central provinces, flooding large areas, isolating many communes and killing at least 106 people.

“With a grant of $250,000 in disaster relief funds, USAID will provide sanitation, health-related, and commodity relief items to the areas of Vietnam most affected by Typhoon Damrey,” Ambassador Kritenbrink was quoted as saying in the press release.

“An additional disaster preparedness grant of $800,000 awarded last month to the Vietnam National Red Cross will benefit approximately 13,700 people directly and 30,000 people indirectly in three target provinces using a community-based approach to build capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters.”

The USAID, or United States Agency for International Development, is the United States government agency which is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid.

Since 2000, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance has provided more than $20 million to address emergency response needs and disaster risk management activities in Vietnam, according to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Through the Department of Defense, the U.S. government has also supplied more than $28 million since 1998 to train military and civilian emergency responders and develop and equip disaster management centers, maritime response centers, and disaster shelters at the community level, according to the same source.

A number of countries have offered support to Vietnam since the news broke about the devastating damage of the fierce storm.

Houses in Nha Trang City get unroofed by Typhoon Damrey. Photo: Tuoi Tre

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to provide Vietnam with monetary support of $5 million and 40 metric tons of goods to help the country rebuild from the aftermath of Typhoon Damrey.

South Korea has pledged to provide an aid package worth $1 million to support people affected by the typhoon, state radio broadcaster VOV cited the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs as announcing on Friday.

New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters on Thursday said the Oceanic country would provide Vietnam with a government aid of $500,000 for Damrey relief during a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum comprised of 21 Pacific Rim member economies.

Da Nang takes over the baton this year to host the group’s annual summit of leaders, from November 6 to 11, which is the culmination of Vietnam’s year-long hosting of APEC events.

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