This year, as of October 9, natural disasters have left 238 people dead or missing, 367 injured, and damaged or unroofed about 258,000 houses across Vietnam, while more than 555,000 hectares of rice fields, crops, and plantations have been submerged, the Government News quoted Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep as reporting on October 10.
Natural disasters cost the country VND33.549 trillion ($1.4 billion) since the beginning of 2025 and is projected to account for at least two per cent of the nation's GDP this year, said the Deputy Minister at a government meeting on October 9 on urgent measures to address the consequences of Typhoon Matmo.
Typhoon Matmo and its aftermath alone have left 15 dead and missing, seven injured, flooded 221,000 houses, and damaged nearly 17,000 others. Around 23,280 hectares of crops were inundated, the official added.
Approximately 546,000 electricity users in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen, Bac Giang, Cao Bang, and Lang Son experienced outages. Power has been restored to 329,000 households, while about 217,000 remain without electricity.
The Ministry of National Defense has mobilized more than 11,000 officers and soldiers, 256 vehicles, and organized four relief flights carrying 8.7 tons of emergency supplies to affected areas.
Addressing the Cabinet meeting on October 9, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that recent disasters have become increasingly complex, with record-level floods inflicting heavy human and economic losses and impacting overall growth.
The Prime Minister ordered maximum assistance for affected individuals and businesses, especially in agriculture—to quickly restore operations and stabilize livelihoods, thereby supporting the achievement of Vietnam's 2025 economic growth goals.
He also tasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of Construction with guiding localities in revising socio-economic, infrastructure, and residential plans to adapt to increasingly extreme weather, and to ensure preparedness under the "four-on-the-spot" principle: on-site command, on-site forces, on-site materials, and on-site logistics.
Earlier, a total of 514 people were reported dead or missing due to natural disasters in 2024, increasing three times compared to the number in 2023 and 2.4 times over the average of the past decade. The disasters also injured 2,207 people and caused an estimated VND88.75 trillion ($3.4 billion) in economic losses, an increase of 9.52 times over 2023.
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