With a death toll of 298 and damages surpassing US$4 billion, the country occupies the sixth spot on the 2019 Climate Risk Index.
The report, which is issued by environmental policy group Germanwatch and was released earlier this week, provides "analyses to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.)." It cites Vietnamese floods, droughts, and storms including Typhoon Damry, which killed 89 people and destroyed 80,000 homes as being particularly devastating. Landslides in Northern provinces also contributed to the country's placement on the list.
Image via Germanwatch.
Vietnam was also in the top ten for countries most affected since 1998. The country took the sixth place last year and there is little reason to expect it won't be high on next year's report. Over the summer, the country already experienced horrific landslides in Nha Trang and just this month massive flooding struck Da Nang while Saigon experienced record rainfall and storms thanks to Typhoon Usagi.
Experts consider El Niño to be a factor in the severity of the storms in 2017. Climate change is further exacerbating the situation, with Vietnam listed as one of the top ten countries most affected by the volatile weather patterns.
Hurricane Maria's pummeling of Puerto Rico led to the US island protectorate taking the top spot followed by Sri Lanka which faced serious landslides in spring. Nepal, Peru, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Thailand were the other nations joining Vietnam in the top ten.
