Viet Nam: Floods - Oct 1998

The UNDP Office in Hanoi informed that heavy rains and floods in the coastal provinces of central Vietnam in mid-October caused significant damage in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Kahanh Hoa, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan. Until mid-August, the region had been suffering from a severe drought. According to the official reports issued by affected provinces to the Standing Office of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) on 26 October 1998, 42 people were killed, 3 were missing and 5 were injured or ill. 294 houses collapsed, 5,724 houses were flooded and 482 houses damaged. More than 11,000 hectares of paddy rice were destroyed. According to news reports, the Government reported on 2 November that the death toll from floods in central Vietnam rose to 52, out of which 17 people had been killed in Binh Dinh province, 14 in Khanh Hoa, 12 in Quang Ngai, 4 in Phu Yen and 5 in Ninh Thuan. The damage has been estimated at VND 191 billion (USD 13.7 million). (OCHA, 6 Nov 1998)

According to the latest update issued by the Standing Office of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC), Typhoon Dawn and other tropical storms which hit the central provinces from 11 to 26 November caused extensive flooding and damage as follows (as of 28 November 1998): People killed: 267, People missing: 16, People injured: 92, Houses collapsed: 9,821, Houses flooded/damaged: 470,176, Schools collapsed: 143, Schools flooded/damaged: 1,484, Paddy flooded/damaged: 81,224 ha, Other crops flooded/damaged: 33,708 ha. The economic loss is estimated at VND 1,295 billion (USD 93 million). The flood is reported to be the worst flood since 1975, similar to the historical (record) flood of 1964. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), some 2.4 million people have been directly affected by the disaster in the following 15 provinces: Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Dac Lac, Kon Tum, Lam Dong and Gia Lai. Some of the provinces are the poorest in the country, and the populations are largely reliant on subsistence agriculture and aquaculture. The damage to crops, infrastructure (including transportation system, bridges, schools, aquaculture, boats, stocks) and private property will seriously affect the living conditions of local residents in 1999. (OCHA, 3 Dec 1998)