The Red Cross is asking for $1.2 million in international aid to help 42,000 people affected by the serious flooding that has plagued Vietnam for weeks.

In a statement Thursday, the aid organization said its main goal is to provide the victims with cash, household kits, safe water, hygiene items, medicine and shelter.

A top official with the Vietnam Red Cross, Doan Van Thai, said his organization has done a lot, including distributing more than 3,000 household kits. But he said the needs are still severe.

Vietnamese authorities say 100 people, including many children, have died due to the flooding, which began in the Mekong Delta region in September. More than 600,000 people have been affected in seven provinces and more than 125,000 houses have been flooded.

On Wednesday, a Hanoi-based representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross told VOA the flood waters are beginning to recede — at least in Vietnam's central region.

More than 800 people have been killed across Southeast Asia from unusually heavy seasonal monsoon rains.