Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc visited a child injured by storm Molave in Quảng Nam Province on Sunday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Localities in storm and flood-hit areas have started working to repair the damage wrought by storm Molave, focusing on house repairs and sanitation to help citizens get back on their feet.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc visited central Quảng Ngãi and Quảng Nam provinces yesterday to review recovery work.

He said storm Molave left huge devastation in the central region and sent his regards and sympathy from Party and State leaders to local residents, expressing his hope local authorities and people will soon overcome consequences of the natural disaster.

He urged local authorities to clean up the environment and repair public facilities like schools and hospitals.

He expressed his hope that authorities and people in affected localities would work to deal with the storm and flood aftermaths while taking preventive measures against the approaching storm Goni, which is viewed as the biggest storm so far this year and forecast to hit on Wednesday night.

At a national conference of the education sector on Saturday, Minister of Education and Training Phùng Xuân Nhạ said flood-hit areas needed books, notebooks and other educational materials to ensure all students can return to school.

It took time to recover storm and flood damage but students need books to go back to school and education infrastructure also needed to be fixed, he said.

Earlier, the ministry called on international organisations as well as domestic organisations and individuals to support students in affected areas and organised activities to raise funds to help the education sector in affected localities overcome difficulties.

In central Quảng Bình Province, all students had to stay off from schools due to flooding. Education materials were damaged and 334 schools with 3,000 classrooms were flooded. Total damage was estimated at more than VNĐ382 billion (US$16.3 million).

The ministry has urged schools in affected localities to have plans to teach extra classes for students in the storm and flood-hit areas so they can keep up with national education programmes. 

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control yesterday urged ministries, agencies and localities to provide support for flood victims, particularly food, to not let anyone suffer from hunger, cold or be injured without receiving treatment.

They were asked to check households and infrastructure at high risks of landslides and flash floods.

As of yesterday, storm Molave's impacts had killed 29 people, including 23 in Quảng Nam Province and injured 134 others, while 51 people are still missing.

The committee also asked for continuous efforts to search for the missing.

Localities were ordered to closely watch the development of storm Goni and prepare preventive measures.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRSC) Central Committee on Friday sent emergency aid of nearly VNĐ2.6 billion ($112,000) in cash and kind to flood-hit households in the central provinces of Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi and south-central Bình Định and Phú Yên provinces.

The assistance included 800 boxes of necessities, 500 home-repair tool kits, 800 boxes of water purifiers and VNĐ1 billion in cash.

On the same day, the VRSC Central Committee sent two delegations to the localities. — VNS