Rushing Supplies to Storm-Battered Vietnam

Rivers were already high and the ground was still soaked when Typhoon Bualoi recently lashed central Vietnam, leaving behind a deadly trail of destruction. The storm claimed dozens of lives, and hundreds of others were injured. The inundated soil gave way to deadly landslides across the region as well, washing away roads and homes altogether.

The storm made landfall just before midnight on September 28, with whipping winds and torrential downpours wreaking havoc in the central provinces of Vietnam. Many of these communities were still recovering from previous typhoons that had made landfall in recent months, only worsening their already dire living conditions.

“At that time, I thought I was going to die,” said Tuyen, a local resident, recounting the night the storm hit. “The flood water rose and reached my neck.”

Tuyen and her husband survived the onslaught but lost everything in the floodwaters. She lives on an island in the Ca River just before it flows into the sea. The island’s residents—some 140 households—were left without water, food, and electricity for days. The storm water sat in the streets and homes as families struggled to find a dry place to sleep.

Samaritan’s Purse arrived in the village just days later, bringing essential supplies to the island by boat. It was the relief Tuyen and her community desperately needed, but never thought they’d receive.

“I was so happy to receive the relief goods today—I like it all,” she said. Tuyen mentioned how the blankets and mosquito nets were some items she desperately needed. She also loved the solar lamp she received, as her community has been without electricity since the storm hit.

Relief Supplies Arrive for the Hurting

In response to Typhoon Bualoi, Samaritan’s Purse has already distributed supplies to 350 families across Ha Tinh province, and we plan to give another 2,300 families essential supplies in the weeks ahead.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring relief and hope in this time of need,” said Dave Kletzing, the country director for Samaritan’s Purse in Vietnam.

Our relief kits include kitchen and household supplies such as cooking pots and pans, blankets, a mosquito net, and solar lights. Each family also receives a personal hygiene kit—towels, soap, dental products, and more—and a food kit with cooking staples like salt, sugar, milk, rice, and cooking oil.

“We treasure everything in here,” said Canh, another resident in the island community, as she sat next to her bundle of Samaritan’s Purse supplies.

She and her husband narrowly escaped to a school building when the floods began to rise. “If we didn’t evacuate, I don’t think we’d survive,” she admitted. When she and her husband, Siu, returned to their house, reality set in: the roof was gone, all their food was soiled, and they were left with no electricity.

“All the items are valuable to us and everything is what we use for daily life,” Canh said.

Multiple Responses, One Purpose

Typhoon Bualoi strikes at a trying time for many communities in central and northern Vietnam, as the region struggles to recover from back-to-back deadly storms in recent months. Just as we now respond in Bualoi’s wake, Samaritan’s Purse also rushed supplies to hurting families after Tropical Storm Wutip made landfall over the summer, Typhoon Wipha in August, and Typhoon Kajiki just last month.

Following Bualoi’s landfall, another storm, Typhoon Matmo, formed and struck northern Vietnam over the weekend causing a dam to collapse in the northern highlands. Samaritan’s Purse received an urgent call for help from our partners, and we have since mobilized relief teams who are now en route to the devastated region with water and basic food items for 4,000 families.

Over the course of the five storms, Samaritan’s Purse will have helped nearly 10,000 hurting families recover in Jesus’ Name.

As our relief teams continue to venture to isolated communities across Vietnam, pray that each family would feel God’s love and be reminded that they are not alone. Pray for Vietnam as the long road to recovery begins.

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