Natural disasters claimed 175 lives and caused 19,500 billion VND worth of damage in 2022.

Natural disasters caused 19,500 billion VND worth of property damage

At the National Conference on natural disaster prevention, and search and rescue operations in 2023 on April 20, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep reported on the state of natural disasters in 2022. During the first few months of 2022, extreme and irregular natural disasters have ravaged across the country. Vietnam recorded 21 out of 22 types of natural disasters (except tsunamis); 1,072 instances of natural disasters were documented.

Prolonged heavy rains from April to June in Northen Vietnam have led to landslides, flash floods in mountainous areas, urban areas and industrial zones located in Hanoi, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguy, etc.

The reservoirs in Son La, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang were discharged for an extended period of time before the flood season. This is a rare occurrence since the Red River inter-reservoir system came into operation.

Widespread flooding was brought on by unseasonably strong rainfall in Central Vietnam from late March to early April, affecting provinces from Quang Binh to Phu Yen.

Three consecutive storms struck and flooded different parts of Vietnam, severely damaging people and properties. Most notably, typhoon No. 4 (Noru) reached force 14-15, with a wind level of 17. This near-super typhoon from the East Sea rapidly weakened and arrived in Da Nang - Quang Nam on September 28. Consequently, the typhoon caused heavy rain from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai. Nghe An province recorded a precipitation rate of 300-500mm with 662mm in Quynh Luu; 650mm in Con Cuong. Subsequently, strong rain caused flooding in the plains and severe flash floods in Ky Son district.

Heavy rain following typhoon No. 5 in Da Nang city caused a level 3 flooding alarm on rivers from Quang Binh to Thua Thien Hue. The Suoi Da region recorded a precipitation rate of 831mm, exceeding the record of 635mm in 2018; Additionally, the rain volume was 642mm/7 hours from 15 to 21 o'clock on October 14, 2022. The flooding levels reached from 1.5 to 2.0m in the center of Da Nang city.

High tides in combination with strong winds have caused tall waves in the West Sea area. As a result, the West Sea dyke in Ca Mau province was overflowed and eroded. 247 consecutive earthquakes occurred in Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province.

Natural disasters in 2022 have led to the loss of 175 lives, and nearly 19,500 billion VND worth of property damage. These figures are 1.6 times higher in terms of casualty and 3.4 times higher in terms economic losses compared to those of 2021.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Vietnam has recorded 3 heavy rains, 21 thunderstorms, 12 riverbank landslides, 78 earthquakes, 2 damaging cold spells and 12 strong waves on the sea from the beginning of 2023. There was a historically high temperature period during March in Hoa Binh. Natural disasters have left 7 people missing, and nearly 25 billion VND worth of property damage since the beginning of the year.

The tasks of preventing, responding and overcoming the damages of natural disasters

Although natural disasters are unpredictable, the Government, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the Steering Committee as well as heads of different ministries, branches and armed forces have supported the local communities across the country with disaster prevention, and search and rescue operations. Their efforts have brought positive results in addition to mitigating damages.

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control announced their their assessment of provincial natural disaster prevention and control in 2021 based on the standard set of indicators. Futhermore, the Commitee has guided local governments on the implementation of the indicators for 2022.

The set of indicators for assessing disaster prevention and control has helped provinces and cities identify strengths and weaknesses in order to deploy annual solutions.

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has made detailed weather and hydrological forecasts to regions across the country; timely provision of hydro-meteorological forecasts, warnings and alerts regarding dangerous weather phenomena to prevent and mitigate natural disasters, as well as to proactively plan production and business.

In 2022, the work of advising, directing and responding to natural disasters has been focused and renewed in the direction of strictness, depth, drastic, flexibility, and practicality, so it has been minimized. damage caused by natural disasters. The work of overcoming the consequences of natural disasters in 2022 is also interested and implemented quickly.

Quickness and effectiveness are the core values of the search and rescue operations, contributing to minimizing loss of life and property of the State and people. 

From January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, Vietnam mobilized 235,905 people and 21,682 vehicles to participate in the search and rescue of 5,464 cases, saving 5,542 people and 349 vehicles; relocated 32,142 households to a safer location; repaired 4,473 houses and 198 kilometers of roads; harvested 23,540 hectares of rice and crops, extinguished 765 house fires and 815 hectares of forest fires, alerted 480,248 vehicles/2,298,145 people to local storms and tropical depressions in order to seek safe shelter.

Human lives were lost because of carelessness

On the other hand, Vietnam's efforts in disaster prevention and control in 2022 revealed several outstanding issues and imitations as well as new challenges to overcome in 2023", said Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep.

Casualties as the result of typhoons and storms accounted for a large proportion (59 people, accounting for 34 people%). The implementation of the "4 on-site" motto, and the establishment of a rapid response team has low efficiency in certain areas.

Infrastructure's ability to withstand natural disaster is relatively limited. There are limited means and equipment for disaster prevention, and search and rescue operations.

The development of local disaster prevention plans is not comprehensively updated to match reality. scenarios, Provinces affected by quick and heavy rain are the prime example of this issue; including Da Nang on October 14, 2022 and Hanoi and Vinh Phuc in May 2022. Moreover, the urban drainage planning did not factor in natural disaster prevention and control.

The establishment of commune-level rapid response teams for natural disaster prevention and control lack in-depth investment. The training of natural disaster prevention and control skills for rapid response forces are neglected. Rapid response teams are not provided with the necessary equipment and tools.

The operation and maintenance of reservoirs fall short in terms of coordination between inter-provincial reservoirs. Forecast bulletins and calculation units have failed to follow the constant changes of rain and flood. Many local governments lack the tools to support in the decision making process with regards to reservoir operation.

The early warning system for certain extreme natural disasters such as flash floods, heavy rains, thunderstorms, typhoons and lightning storms is lacking. People in areas affected by frequent deep flooding, flash floods and landslides during heavy rain are not given updated information on time.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep, resources for remedial work are limited, meeting only 20 to 30% of the local needs. No separate budget line is specified to proactively overcome the damages of natural disasters.

In addition, the establishment of the Central Disaster Prevention Fund is incomplete. The progress of remedial work is slow in some provinces, leading to the failure to meet requirements or reduced investment efficiency in terms of funds allocation for disaster recovery support in 2021 and 2022.