Viet Nam: Flooding in Northern/Central Viet Nam Situation Update No. 1 (as of 2 November 2017)

This update is issued on behalf of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam. It covers the period for October 2017. Another update will be shared once new information become available.

Highlights

• The Government of Viet Nam, through the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (CCNDPC), has actively responded to the impacts and led coordination in terms of preparedness and response to the floods and landslides in Northern and Central Viet Nam.
• A continued and persistent cold spell over the last few weeks, combined with tropical depressions such as Doksuri in September and Khanun in October have caused heavy rainfall of up to 300-600 mm as well as floods and landslides in 13 provinces of Northern and Central Viet Nam; marking the first time in over a decade where the Northern and Central regions have suffered large volumes of rain in a short period of time.
• The three most affected provinces (Hoa Binh and Yen Bai in the Northern Highlands and Thanh Hoa in North-Central Viet Nam) show high numbers of deaths and missing people, seriously damaged infrastructure, collapsed/submerged houses, and destroyed crops and livestock, and high-level missions led by the Prime Minister and his Deputy Prime Ministers have been carried out to all of the aforementioned areas.
• On 15 October, the province of Hoa Binh issued a ‘state of emergency due to landslide’, and some local communities in the province were evacuated in the following days due to the possibility of additional landslides.
• The Vietnamese Red Cross as well as international NGOs such as World Vision, Care International, Save the Children, and OXFAM have actively responded to the needs in most affected provinces, including Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa, Son La, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, and Ha Tinh, and the Government of Japan has offered additional in-kind support.
• So far, the Government has issued no request for international humanitarian support from the UN agencies.