Natural disasters are estimated to leave 245 dead, 50 missing and 363 injured across Vietnam in the first eleven months of this year, the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control said. Four floods and heavy rains in the central region caused the most serious consequences with 218 fatalities, 35 missing people and 198 injuries during the period. Meanwhile, flash floods and landslides claimed lives of 16 people between Jan and Nov, the committee attributed. Natural disasters damaged more than 5,000 houses, 300,000 hectares of paddies and other crop as well as inundated nearly 2,000 schools and clinics in the 11-month period. Calamity, excluding draughts, is forecast to cause a loss of over VND15 trillion ($769.23 million) to the country this year in the Jan-Nov. Vietnam is among the ten most vulnerable countries by natural disasters, particularly tropical storms, floods, landslides and droughts. The nation is estimated to suffer ten storms a year. (Nhan Dan – The People Dec 20 p8)
