Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while visiting Vietnam, on October 30 announced the US is providing an additional US$2 million in humanitarian assistance to respond to typhoon Molave and the ongoing severe flooding that has affected central Vietnam since early October.

Floods have left heavy consequences in central Vietnam. Photo: Hoang Anh/AFP

This amount brings the total humanitarian assistance from the US government for people touched by the floods to US$2.1 million, the US embassy in Hanoi said in a statement Saturday.

With this new funding, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is ramping up efforts to meet emergency needs in communities affected by Vietnam’s historic typhoon season, it added.

Typhoon Molave, which made landfall in Central Vietnam on October 28, 2020, is the ninth tropical storm to hit Vietnam this year. Typhoon Molave follows weeks of torrential rain and landslides that have disrupted the lives and livelihoods of an estimated 1.5 million people and killed more than 130.

In response, USAID’s partners, including the Vietnam Red Cross Society, are addressing the immediate needs of the affected families for food, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene. Because the floods have washed away livestock, farms, and infrastructure, USAID’s partners also will provide assistance to these families as they begin to restore their livelihoods.

“The United States stands with the people of Vietnam during this difficult time,” added the statement.

At a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi,
Secretary Pompeo expressed condolences over the loss of life due to significant flooding as a result of tropical storm Linfa and typhoon Molave.

With the aid, the US has lengthened the list of donors of humanitarian aid for Vietnam’s response to flooding in the central region. Before it, the EU announced EUR1.3 million while Taiwan (China) provided US$400,000, China US$100,000 and Australia AUD100,000.