Overseas Vietnamese aid motherland $510,000 to recover from flooding, landslides

Dang Minh Khoi, chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the ministry, handed the sum, contributed by Vietnamese living in Australia, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Laos, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, and the U.S. since October 20 to the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front in Hanoi on Thursday.

Although Vietnamese in those parts of the world have experienced their own financial difficulties due to the impacts of Covid-19, they still lent a helping hand to their compatriots, Khoi said.

The Fatherland Front will hand over the funds to localities hit by flooding and landslides in central Vietnam.

The front is an overarching public organization tasked with promoting national solidarity and unity of mind in political and spiritual matters, and conducting many of the government's social programs, especially those to mitigate poverty.

The central region had been repeatedly hit by torrential rains, widespread flooding and landslides triggered by five storms during October.

So far, 235 people have been killed or reported missing, almost 390,000 houses were flooded and more than 300,000 families were evacuated, according to Vietnam Disaster Management Authority.

Many people across affected areas have lost almost all their household possessions or have had their homes, food stocks, livestock, and crops heavily damaged.

Storm Molave, which swept central Vietnam last week, was one of the most powerful to hit the nation in 20 years, inflicting damages worth around VND10 trillion ($430.16 million), according to affected provinces.