Natural calamities left eight people dead or missing, and 21 injured in Vietnam in the first four months of 2019, according to a report from the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
Hail occurred in Vietnam’s northern province of Son La in early 2019. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn
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In addition, 4,000m of roads were flooded and 80 boats were sunk or damaged.
During the period, Vietnam suffered from one storm, four cold spells, one earthquake, flooding, hails and high tides, causing property losses worth some VND170.5 billion (nearly US$7.33 million).
Earlier, VnExpress reported that in 2018 Vietnam was struck by 13 typhoons and tropical depressions. The disasters left 181 people dead and 37 others missing, caused damage worth around VND20 trillion (US$858 million), three times less than the previous year’s figure of VND60 trillion (US$2.6 billion).
Vietnam has been deemed one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change. However, the country seemingly is not well prepared for these scenarios.
According to the World Bank, about 70% of Vietnam's population is exposed to the risks of typhoons, floods, droughts, storm surges, salt water intrusion, landslides, forest fires and occasional earthquakes.
The risks are exacerbated by climate change. Vietnam loses 1-1.5% of GDP annually due to natural disasters, according to the World Bank.
