On 2 November 2017, Typhoon Damrey gained strength and headed to Vietnam with wind speeds of up 90km/hour. The Vietnamese Government sent the alert to the Central provinces to guide the emergency response. 35,000 villagers in high- risk areas were evacuated to safe places before the arrival of the typhoon. On 4 November 2017, the Typhoon made landfall with winds of up to 135km/h, wreaking havoc in the central and south-central areas. The Vietnamese Central Committee of Disaster Prevention and Control announced the risk of the disaster was at level 3. During its 16 hours in Vietnam, the typhoon blew the roofs off thousands of houses, felled trees and electricity poles across the southern coastline and caused the destruction of thousands of homes. The typhoon caused flooding in 15 provinces across central Vietnam.
Following to the typhoon, CARE International in Vietnam (CARE), as a core member of Disaster Management Working Group (DMWG) joined the Rapid Needs Assessment in the two worst affected provinces, including Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam. The assessments revealed widespread damage to housing, infrastructure, WASH and livelihoods.
CARE was successful in mobilizing AUD $400,000 funding from DFAT to provide support for affected populations in four communes of Dai Loc District (Quang Nam Province) and Quang Dien District (in Thua Thien Hue Province). This funding enabled recovery activities to take place from the beginning of January to the end of September 2018, with a particular focus on addressing the different needs of both men and women for livelihood recovery and WASH. [33 pages]