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Viet Nam

Devastation caused by Typhoon Linda

The Red Cross assessment team continues its work in the Mekong delta of southern Vietnam, travelling mostly by riverboat along the canals and tributaries that make up the water-based communities in this part of the country.
Everywhere along the shore, evidence of Typhoon Linda's visit can be seen in the destruction of property, the uprooted trees and the overturned fishing boats. In several places, large craft are now sitting on dry land, in a dramatic display of Linda's gale-force winds.

Across the generations, the majority of the Mekong Delta population have eeked out a marginal existence, generating income through fishing, day labour, and - where there is enough fertile land to grow fruits and vegetables - by tending small garden plots.

Although this calamity has caused the largest loss of life at sea in recorded memory for southern fishing villages, those who did survive can return to their livelihood.

For day labourers and garden farmers, the economic disruption and environmental destruction pose a dire challenge to a
recovery of household food and income security, meagre as it is.

=A91997 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies