The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), or Lao PDR, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Lao PDR is bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west, and covers a total area of 236,800 km2 with a total population of 6,300,000 and a per capita income of US$ 753.30.
As a low income country and an agriculture-based economy, Lao PDR is one of the most vulnerable countries to the future impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia, especially droughts, floods, and landslides, river bank erosion and reduced food security. The most vulnerable communities are in low lying areas along the Mekong River and its major tributaries in the central and southern parts, as well as the mountainous areas in northern parts of Lao PDR.
Floods and droughts are considered the most frequent and damaging disasters in Laos. Historical data recorded from 1966 to 2009 shows that Laos experiences an average of 1.5 severe flood and drought every year. In recent years, the country experienced the Kammuri flooding (August 2008) which affected about 200,000 people and damaged 50,000 hectares of arable land, followed by Typhoon Morakot (August 2009) and Typhoon Ketsana (end of September- early October 2009), both of which caused significant damages to several provinces in the central and southern parts of Lao PDR. Typhoon Ketsana alone affected more than 180,000 people and the total damage and loss amounted to US$ 58 million.
Between 24 and 26 June 2011, Typhoon Haima hit the northern and central provinces of Lao PDR, passing through the Houaphan, Xiengkhouang, Xayaboury, Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane provinces with wind speeds of 10 km per hour. On 26 June 2011, torrential rains due to Typhoon Haima caused widespread flooding in 4 provinces: Bolikhamxay, Xayaboury, Vientiane and Xiengkhouang.
The floods caused extensive damage to people’s livelihood, property, and to social and physical infrastructure along the major river banks. The Government of Lao PDR (GoL) at the provincial level acted quickly, helping the communities to evacuate, mobilizing volunteers to search for and rescue the disaster survivors, and delivering immediate emergency aid as well as temporary restoration of life line facilities and houses of people. In parallel, the GoL mobilized resources and funds from the public and private sectors to assist the survivors in the affected provinces. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), on behalf of the GoL, also issued an official letter dated 13 July 2011, requesting assistance from the UN agencies and the World Bank, to conduct a Joint Damage, Losses and Needs Assessment (JDLNA) of Typhoon Haima in the four main affected provinces.
The resulting JDLNA report prepared by GoL staff from key line ministries at the central level, the UN agencies, and the World Bank, estimated the total monetary value of the damage and losses caused by Typhoon Haima to be 353,030 million kip (USD 44,128,726) and 177,446 million kip (US$ 22,180,798) respectively. Further, the team has estimated that 192,457 million kip (USD 24,057,125) and 374,735 million kip (US$ 46,841,904) are the amounts needed in the short and medium term in order to ensure the recovery from this disaster. Overall needs are estimated at 567 billion kip (US$ 70,000,000).
The JDLNA reports the findings of the assessments of disaster related damage, losses and resource needed for recovery, restoration of people’s livelihoods, and improving the climate resilience of the affected sectors in the short, medium and longer terms. This report also highlights some of the government commitments to improve its internal coordination and reporting system for disaster emergency response and preparedness between the line ministries at the central and local levels, as well as to establish the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework for long term reconstruction and recovery.