Our teams are on the ground near Hanoi, the nation's capital, distributing essential supplies and equipment after Typhoon Kajiki tore through the region only weeks ago.
Samaritan’s Purse teams are on the ground rushing much-needed relief to storm-battered areas of north-central Vietnam in the wake of Typhoon Kajiki’s late August landfall. Kajiki is the second typhoon to hit the region in as many months.
Whipping winds ripped apart houses while torrential rains pummeled the region, triggering flash floods and deadly landslides in rural communities. In the following days, they were hit by further flooding as remnants of other storms moved in from the South China Sea.
Staff unload buckets stuffed full with relief supplies to distribute to families in Vietnam reeling from Typhoon Kajiki.
Teams from our Vietnam field office have been hard at work in Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces, both just south of Hanoi. We have provided more than 1,300 hurting families with relief kits containing critical supplies and everyday items swept away as communities fled to safety.
In addition to providing food essentials such as rice, oil, salt, milk, peanuts, and more, we’ve also supplied families with blankets, mosquito nets, and cooking pots and pans. Each family also received a hygiene kit with soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, towels, and other products to stay clean and healthy. Additionally, we continue to distribute bottled water and water purifying tablets in areas where damage to infrastructure caused water sources to become contaminated and unsafe to drink.
Typhoon Survivors Watched Landslides Take Everything
Many homes are still buried under feet of mud in a region already reeling from a season of multiple typhoons and other storms. Samaritan’s Purse teams were still responding to needs from Typhoon Wipha as Kajiki moved in.
We met residents in Thanh Hoa who recalled the frightening morning Kajiki struck.
Tam, a mother of three young children, said she was cooking rice in the early morning hours when “the ground began sliding into the house.” She heard screams as neighbors ran out of their homes.
“Watching my home be buried,” she said, “I felt panic and couldn’t say a word.”
Tam is grateful for the abundance of supplies she received from Samaritan’s Purse.
Not far away, a woman named Mai was trapped with her husband and children after rocks and mud surged down the mountainside into their home. They were only able to escape by breaking a window and crawling through. “The fear from that moment still haunts me,” she added.
As Tam, Mai, and many others face the days ahead, our teams continue to provide for some of their physical needs and to show God’s love to each family we meet. Tam says they have a long road to recovery, and expressed gratitude for our team showing up at the right time.
“Our family was already very poor, and now we don’t even have a home to live in, so I am very thankful to Samaritan’s Purse,” Tam said. “This gift is truly essential for my family at this time.”
Mai (center) and her husband departed the Samaritan’s Purse distribution site with a newfound sense of hope, and relief supplies piled on their motorcycle.
Ongoing Help in Jesus’ Name
“I have seen the devastation Typhoon Kajiki has caused—families have lost their homes, livelihoods, and a sense of security,” said Dave Kletzing, the Samaritan’s Purse country director in Vietnam. “Samaritan’s Purse is committed to standing with these communities—providing emergency relief, restoring hope, and working alongside local authorities to rebuild lives.
“In every storm, we are reminded that compassion and faith can bring light even in the darkest moments,” Kletzing said.
Please pray for our teams as they bring essential aid to more remote villages and communes in Vietnam. Pray for the thousands of families still recovering from this storm.
Our staff takes the time to listen to each individual, and remind them that they are not alone during these hard times.
