User:Cyclonebiskit/Durian

In early December 2006, Typhoon Durian—locally referred to as Bão số 9—caused widespread damage in southern Vietnam and killed at least 98 people.

Background


Vietnam is significantly prone to natural disasters, especially flooding and typhoons. The northwestern Pacific Ocean is the most active tropical cyclone basin in the world, with a 50-year average of 26 (±5) tropical storms developing across the region in a given year. Of these, an average of 12.5 cyclones traverse the South China Sea, with 4–6 directly impacting Vietnam. Tropical cyclone landfalls can happen at any time of the year in Vietnam, with peak activity centered between September and November; October averages at least one landfall per year. Northern areas of the country are the most susceptible to impact and is frequently impacted early in the season. As the year progresses, the threatened region shifts south and by December, southern Vietnam is the most likely landfall area. Many of these storms have resulted in substantial loss of life in the hundreds or thousands; however, statistics on these events were poorly maintained until 1997 and a complete record is uncertain.

Southern Vietnam is not frequented by typhoons as much as northern areas of the country, and residents were inadequately prepared for the approach of Typhoon Durian. Buildings in the region were not built to withstand typhoons, and can suffer tremendous damage from a relatively weak system. The worst storm to strike the region in recent history, and among the worst in the nation, was Tropical Storm Linda in November 1997, which wrought catastrophic damage and killed 3,111 people. In May 2006, Typhoon Chanchu caught numerous ships off-guard over the South China Sea; 241 fishermen died while hundreds more were rescued after their boats sank or were damaged. The incident prompted a review of Vietnam's meteorological agency and their forecast accuracy improved within a few years. Later in 2006, Typhoon Xangsane devastated parts of the country, leaving at least 70 people dead and 10 trillion VND (US$627 million) in damage.

Typhoon Durian formed as a tropical depression on November 24 near Chuuk State and moved generally west-northwest, becoming a tropical storm two days later. Favorable environmental conditions enabled the system to rapidly intensify on its approach to the Philippines. It reached its peak strength with ten-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a barometric pressure of 915 mbar (hPa; 27.02 inHg) on November 29 before striking the island nation. Greatly weakened by interaction with land, Durian emerged over the South China on December 1; however, it regained some strength before turning southwest on December 3. Initially paralleling the Vietnamese coastline, the weakening system moved inland over the Mekong Delta south of Ho Chi Minh City on December 5 with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph). Durian quickly weakened to a tropical depression thereafter and continued westward over the Gulf of Thailand, and eventually dissipated over the Bay of Bengal.

Typhoon Preparedness in Southern Vietnam

Preparations
As the typhoon impacted the Philippines on November 29, Vietnam's Central Hydro-meteorological Center advised that Durian would likely impact Central Vietnam within a week. Forecasts gradually shifted south as the storm approached, though Durian consistently moved even farther south than expected. Meteorologists cited weaker-than-expected easterly winds, stemming from an El Niño, and cooler air to the north of the cyclone as reasons for Durian's southerly movement. The forecast errors still fell within expected margins, however, averaging 100 km for 24 hours, 250 km for 48 hours, and 350 km for 72 hours.

On November 30, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Sinh Hùng requested provincial officials to contact all ships over the South China Sea and inform them to return to shore. Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng ordered authorities to prevent all vessels from leaving port. A total of 44,800 vessels, with a collective 833,000 fishermen, were called back to port or told to drop anchor. Many sought refuge on the Paracel and Spratly islands while others sailed to Indonesian or Malaysian waters. By December 2, approximately 29,700 ships were anchored safely. Helicopters from the People's Air Force were dispatched to provide warning to ships. Strong wind warnings were disseminated to residents between Phú Yên and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu provinces by December 2. These areas, as well as the inland provinces of Đắk Lắk, Lâm Đồng, and Bình Phước redirected all focus on the typhoon and the potential for life-threatening flash flooding.

Two disaster committees were established: one in Khánh Hòa Province and another in Ho Chi Minh City. Officials in the latter feared that Durian would flood the entire city, prompting a discharge of water from lake Dầu Tiếng. Schools throughout the threatened region suspended classes for two days. Authorities planned to evacuate roughly 90,000 residents across Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận, Bình Thuận, and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu provinces, with assistance from the People's Army. Despite advanced notice of the storm and constant radio broadcasts, many residents in Khánh Hòa did not believe Durian would hit them. Others refused to evacuate due to calm weather preceding the typhoon; however, state authorities planned to force locals to leave. Ultimately, approximately 50,000 people evacuated ahead of the typhoon's arrival, including 24,000 in Khánh Hòa Province. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 1.5 million people evacuated. Nguyễn Sinh Hùng urged local officials to ensure that a repeat of Typhoon Linda in 1997 would not occur. In an emergency meeting, he stated "[p]rovinces in which typhoons haven’t [hit before] need to immediately stop underestimating the threat." Hùng also warned of punishment for being complacent. Hùng later criticized overall preparations as inadequate and called the actions of residents "heedless", both resulting in large loss of life. Deputy Prime Minister Trương Vĩnh Trọng stated, "[m]any losses were unnecessarily caused by [authority's] neglect."

http://vnexpress.net/bao-so-9-durian/topic-10777.html

Impact
Prior to Durian's landfall, several seagoing vessels were caught in rough seas; seven sank on December 3, leaving three people dead off the coast of Phú Yên Province. A Malaysian barge carrying 7,000 m3 (24,700 ft3) of timber ran aground near Qui Nhơn the following day; lost cargo was valued at 7 billion VND (US$437,500).

Phú Quý Island was struck first and sustained substantial damage. Both the electrical and telecommunications networks were destroyed. Preliminary losses reached 350 billion VND (US$21.8 million).

Binh Dai province — 33,000 total homes: 3,000 destroyed, 25,000 unroofed Talk Viet 1

Approximately 1.2 million people were affected by Durian. A total of 49,787 homes were destroyed and a further 195,117 sustained damage, as did 2,921 school rooms. Agriculture suffered tremendously, with 6,978 hectares of crops ruined and 22,255 fishing boats wrecked. All told, 85 peopled lost their lives, 1,360 were injured, and a further 10 were left missing.


 * Use Talk Vietnam's custom Google search engine in top right corner; Wiki blacklisted a direct link to it

http://vietnamnews.vn/society/159917/victims-of-typhoon-durian-will-receive-government-aid-pm.html

http://www.talkvietnam.com/2006/12/second-typhoon-in-as-many-weeks-to-hit-vietnam/

http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/2007/01/08/christmas-thrift-benefits-typhoon-rehabilitation-as-church-appeals-for-help&post_id=6685

Aftermath
On the heavily impacted Phú Quý Island, food supplies were feared to last residents no more than ten days and relief was quick to arrive. Approximately 3,500 soldiers, many of whom were stationed at damaged barracks on the island, were mobilized to assist residents. The Red Cross provided first aid and 300 family kits while the government dispatched a freighter carrying food supplies, including 200 tonnes of rice. The National Fatherland Front provided US$199,000 in funds, 3,000 boxes of instant noodles, and 5,000 roofing sheets to affected residents in Ho Chi Minh City. They also pledged to provide families whose homes lost their roof with US$620 each and those with partial roof damage with US$200–300. On December 8, Prime Minister Dũng set aside 150 billion VND (US$9.4 million) from the nation's budget for relief and rehabilitation. Affected residents were provided with essential foodstuffs and milk.
 * Domestic

The prices of construction materials, such as nails and roofing, increased by 50–100 percent in the storm's wake. The government implemented controls on market values to avoid price gouging.

Despite the severity of damage, the Vietnamese Government made no formal request for international assistance though welcomed welcomed any assistance.
 * International

Already aiding residents in the aftermath of Typhoon Xangsane, the IFRC extended their emergency program for the nation to account for damage and loss of life caused by Durian. In their initial appeal, they requested US$2.47 million, US$1 million above the previous. This was soon raised to US$3.49 million with the goal of providing assistance to 99,500 people. However, this was ultimately reduced to US$1.33 million. The agency, alongside the Federation Secretariat and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), also made an immediate pledge of US$100,000 for emergency assistance on December 7. Initial support from the Vietnamese chapter of the Red Cross included US$31,000 in funds and 1,500 household kits to the most affected families.

Total recovery needs for the 2.8 million people affected by Xangsane and Durian was estimated at 1 trillion VND (US$63 million).

Leaders from Belarus, France, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, and Singapore expressed their condolences to victims of the typhoon. Japanese oil company MODEC provided US$25,000 in aid to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province and the Russian-owned Zarubezhneft donated US$1,000.

Damage from Durian and other typhoons in 2006 and 2007 prompted the Asian Development Bank to provide an additional US$25.5 million in funding to a rural rehabilitation program for typhoon damage incurred in 2005.
 * Other

The 39th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific/World Meteorological Organization's Typhoon Committee met in Manila, Philippines from December 4–9, coinciding with Durian's impact in Vietnam. During the session, the committee retired the name Durian, primarily for its catastrophic impacts in the Philippines, which was replaced by Mangkhut in 2008.