Natural disaster forecasting in Vietnam will focus on frequent incidents such as typhoons, droughts, landslides and floods from now until 2020, according to a new decision of the Government.

After a flood that hit Hua Nam Hamlet, Nam Pam Commune, Muong La District in northern Son La Province in August, 2017.

Decision No 705, signed on June 7 by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, approved the natural disaster forecasting programme to assess, map and update regions with high risks of catastrophes, especially those occurring on a regular basis, namely typhoons, floods, salinisation, droughts and so forth.

With an aim to prevent and overcome natural disasters, the programme focuses on vulnerable areas in lands, seas and islands. It evaluates the risk of calamities by region, establishing a warning map for tropical depressions, storms and rises in the sea level. The programme will determine floods, land subsidence and landslides in midlands and mountainous regions in addition to hail storms, heat waves, tornados, droughts, lightning, severe cold, rimes, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Dũng urged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to look into the programme’s operations and results.

Natural disasters have been on the rise in Viet Nam for the past 10 years, reported dantri.vn. According to MARD, 2017 was considered the peak of natural disasters, causing 385 deaths and a significant loss of VNĐ60 trillion (US$2.65 billion). There were 654 cases of injuries recorded, besides many missing people. — VNS