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Viet Nam: Drought: 1999/03 Country Information on DRR

Period 1999/03
Country or District Viet Nam
Event Type Drought
Outline In northern mountainous and midland provinces and north-central provinces, the 1998 rainy season ended one month earlier than usual. The total amount of rainfall was only 50 - 70 per cent of the annual average. At present, water levels in rivers and streams in the north are 20 - 30 per cent lower than average. Salt water has encroached into rice fields.
Summary
Human Impact Physical Impact Others
Reuters 1999/03/24
About 2.3 million people across Vietnam are suffering from food shortages and more than half this number face serious hunger, the official Sai Gon Giai Phong daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.No deaths have been reported from the food shortages. Vietnam has been hit by dry weather in the past 18 months, cutting output from some key export crops.
OCHA Situation Report No. 1 Mar15
It is estimated that 1.7 million people lack water for domestic use, and in addition, almost 1.4 million people in 15 provinces lack food. Salt water has encroached into rice fields. In the affected areas, 5,000 hectares of newly planted rice are threatened because of water shortages. If the dry weather persists, the drought area will increase to 15,000 -20,000 ha. The total amount of rainfall was only 50 - 70 per cent of the annual average. At present, water levels in rivers and streams in the north are 20 - 30 per cent lower than average.
Govt. of Vietnam -Official Report-
In the mountainous areas in the North and North-Centre of Viet Nam, the rainy season ended onemonth earlier than usual. Rainfall totalled only 50% to 70% of the average amount. Therefore, at the end of the 1998 rainy season, the water levels of reservoirs were low, 5m to 8m below designed water levels; in some reservoirs, water levels even fell below dead storage levels.

Related Links

Report/Articles

Govt. of Vietnam -Official Report-
Official Report on Current Drought Situation and Drought Preparedness and Prevention for the 1998-1999

OCHA Situation Report No. 1 (1999/03/15)
Serious domestic water shortages are occurring in Ha Giang and Cao Bang provinces and mountainous areas of Nghe An province. These provinces have allocated USD 72,000 to supply water to the affected population.

Reuters 1999/03/24
It said food shortages had hit almost half the country's 61 provinces. Some 1.3 million of the country's 79 million population suffered from serious hunger.

Relief Web

UNDP 1999/03/11
Current drought situation and drought preparedness and prevention for the 1998-1999 Spring-Winter Crop Season

World Bank Group 19 May 1999
The World Bank has approved a US$80.5 million equivalent credit to Vietnam in order to improve public health and increase economic development.

United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) 1999/05/17
UNDP aquaculture project aims to improve livelihoods in Viet Nam's northern uplands.