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Rapid Flood Damage and Needs Assessment - Vietnam 2016

Countries
Viet Nam
Sources
GFDRR
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Publication date
Origin
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT

From the middle of October until the end of December of 2016, very heavy rainfall caused by a combination of tropical depressions and the North-Eastern monsoon produced five consecutive periods of flooding in eighteen provinces in central Vietnam (North Central, South Central Coast, and the Central Highland regions), significantly affecting their people and economies.

The total rainfall on average over a two-month period reached up to 2,000 millimeters, with peaks in Quang Nam (2,611 millimeters), Quang Ngai (2,729 millimeters), and Binh Dinh (2,417 millimeters). The 2016 floods were rare events; while rainfall-induced flooding occurs annually in these regions, they are seldom so frequent and so late in the year. During the two months, new floods would occur in the low-lying areas of the South Central Coast regions while the regions were still feeling effects from the previous ones, thus exacerbating their impacts. As irrigation and hydropower reservoirs in all affected regions reached their maximum capacities, a series of controlled water discharges further intensified the effects.