The risk and impact of typhoon and storm damage
Viet Nam is amongst the most disaster prone countries of the world. Major disasters occur at least every decade. There are indications that the severity of disaster events are increasing and climate change will surely exacerbate this : the floods in 1999 that hit central Viet Nam were the worst in living memory; families still talk of the huge losses that occurred in the 1997 massive typhoon Linda when 300 000 houses were destroyed and many more damaged.
Annually the Viet Nam coast is hit by tropical storms and typhoons and associated flooding at a rate of 4 to 6 a year or more. What are in effect almost regular disasters cause extensive and repeated damage to housing and infrastructure as well as losses to agriculture and fisheries. These losses have a direct knock on effect on the capacity of the family and the community to develop and move beyond poverty. Along with economic growth in Viet Nam the levels of economic loss have climbed steadily since 1985, reaching over 700 million US $ by 1996 .
Whilst it is in particular difficult to protect against massive typhoons
such as those that hit central Viet Nam in 1985 and again in 1997, damage
in the more frequent annual cyclones can and should be
largely avoided. This can be achieved at a far lower economic and social
cost compared to that of reconstruction, by taking preventive action to increase
the resistance of buildings and the resistance of their components to the
effect of typhoons, high winds and floods.
