The central region of Vietnam has suffered from unseasonal rain on a large scale for the past few days, causing a great loss of life and property.

Losses from natural disasters in 2021 were the lowest in 20 years, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh told a conference in Hanoi on January 20.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan has said that we usually gather to fight natural disasters, but when natural disasters are over, we neglect natural disaster prevention.

Natural disasters killed 91 people and caused a total loss of VND4.4 trillion (USD191 million) for Vietnam in the first 11 months of this year.

Death toll from the floods that are hitting central Vietnam has risen to nine, while nearly 60,000 houses have been submerged, according to the National Steering Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control.

Torrential rains and flooding have caused heavy damage to the central region as of 6pm on October 24, according to the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Over the past 30 years, natural disasters in Vietnam cause the death or missing of nearly 400 people along with economic losses of about 1-1.5 percent of GDP each year.

Local people need to be equipped with essential skills to cope with natural disasters, especially those in the mountainous, remote and ethnic areas, as more storms and floods are expected during the rest of this year.

One person each in Ca Mau and Vinh Long provinces died in strong winds and heavy rains in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta in recent days as they flattened houses and trees and destroyed crops.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha has signed a decision announcing the top 10 events of the sector last year. Below are the selected events.

Vietnam has suffered 576 natural disasters, including 14 storms, two tropical depressions, 264 thunderstorms, lightning and hails, 132 flash floods, landslides and 90 earthquakes this year.

Drought, rains, inundation and landslides have cost Ca Mau province an estimated $43 million from the outset of the year, according to the provincial steering committee on natural disaster prevention, search and rescue.

Creating more detailed flood and landslide risk maps is among the solutions the Government will carry out in the time ahead to cope with possible natural disasters, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said on November 6.

The first session of the National Assembly's discussion on the socio-economic situation that was broadcast live yesterday attracted the attention of voters and people nationwide.

October left devastation for millions of people in central Vietnam.

Storms, heavy rains, landslides and tornadoes in October caused 153 deaths and missing persons, and injured 222, reported the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Answering the local press on the sidelines of the National Assembly session, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Tran Hong Ha said the principle of his ministry is ‘not to develop small-scale hydropower at any cost’.

Annual losses to people’s well-being from natural disasters are estimated at around US$11 billion in purchasing power parity terms, according to WB’s report on Vietnam’s coastal development between opportunity and disaster risk.

VNA talks to Tran Tan Van, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources, about the serious landslides in central region that have resulted in great losses in human life and property.

Many people have died in the central region, thousands of people are living outdoors, and infrastructure has been destroyed by floods and landslides. Why does the central region suffer from disasters every year?