Natural Disasters in Central Vietnam
The Central Provinces of Vietnam, from Quang Binh Province in the North to Binh Dinh Province in the South, are both the poorest and the most natural disaster prone areas of one of the most disaster prone countries in the World.  Every year these Central Provinces of Vietnam are impacted by typhoon storms with 6 to 12 storm landing per year, storm surge coastal flooding, monsoon rain mountain flash flooding, river plain delta flooding, and all other types of natural disasters.

Flood Events in Central Vietnam in 1999
The first most severe flood event in memory occurred between 1 and 6 November 1999, following heavy cyclonic rains in the central area of Vietnam.  The most affected provinces were those from Quang Tri to Quang Nam.  The second major flood event occurred one month later due to similar rainfall and affected mainly the provinces from Thua Thien-Hue to Khanh Hoa.  Thus some provinces experienced very severe flooding twice within four weeks.
As reported by the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, some areas received twice their mean annual rainfall in just a few days, and historical flood levels were surpassed in almost every location.  With the topography of the river catchment areas in the Central Provinces consisting typically of mountainous areas upstream in the west feeding to relatively narrow low-lying coastal areas in the east, the water levels in many rivers rose rapidly – in some cases by several meters per hour.  While no firm estimates of the flood probability levels are available, it is possible that both events were in the order of the 5 % probability floods for the catchments, or of an average return frequency of 50 years.  Unprecedented levels of physical damage and total economic losses were reported.

Issues Arising from the 1999 Floods
Natural disasters and floods are natural events occurring annually in Central Vietnam.  But it is not economically viable to protect against all the effects of the maximum possible floods for any given river basin.  Further, physical works to contain or reduce floods may result in adverse consequences elsewhere.  A realistic balance must be obtained between protecting life, property, and infrastructure from floods of a selected probability; and making adequate provision for evacuation and other emergency measures to cope with the effects of floods of greater magnitude.  The recommended approach should be a combination of non-structural and structural flood control and flood damage protection – for convenience called flood mitigation.
In providing such natural disaster and flood protection, due account must be taken of social factors and the need to safeguard the interests of people living in poverty in flood-prone areas.  Particularly relevant issues in the 1999 and in future floods are:
- Hunger eradication and poverty reduction (HEPR)
- A local participatory approach in the selection of natural disaster and flood mitigation project priorities
- Quality relocation decisions and sites
- Empowerment of women

Effects of the 1999 floods that can be expected in future floods include:
- Loss of life, injury, and disease (mainly diarrhea)
- Evacuation and relocation
- Destruction and damage to homes, schools, clinics, and other public and community buildings
- Destruction and damage to roads and bridges, railways, ports, river banks, estuaries, irrigation systems, aquaculture systems, fishing boats, power supplies, water supplies, and communication systems
- River scour, deposition of sediment, changes to the navigable capacity of rivers and estuaries, and the uncovering of unexploded ordnance (UXO)
- Shortages of food, seeds, fertilizer, and medicine
- Loss of agricultural land, seeds, fertilizer, produce, and livestock
- Disease in livestock
- Loss of livelihood

The most cost-effective measures in the immediate and short term to address these relevant disaster mitigation issues, and to mitigate the effects of future floods in the Central Provinces are non-structural disaster mitigation measures including:
1. Natural disaster area flood mapping
2. River flood warning systems
3. Television based disaster information and warning systems
4. Training at all government levels and grassroots levels on disaster preparedness and  mitigation technologies.