Vietnam, Apocalypse Redux

October 6, 2009

by

  1 Comment

I’ve spent many weeks along the coast of Vietnam and have a variety of friends who live and work along its low-lying shore so last week when Typhoon Ketsana whacked its beaches and jungles with one hundred mile an hour winds, heavy rains, mudslides and flooding, killing more than one hundred sixty people.

I heard from several living in the center of the country: “The airports in Danang and Hue are closed … both cities are flooded and without power … weather forecasters are predicting more heavy rain later this week … we will keep you updated.” In Vietnam the storm wiped out nearly 200,000 homes and ruined both crops and irrigation systems, leaving some of its largest cities roiled in waist-deep, murky brown waters for days. It could have been worse: More than 246 were killed in the Philippines, where 2.3 million were left homeless.

Storms happen, of course. But in recent years Vietnam has experienced more frequent and powerful typhoons and floods than ever before. The most destructive storm along its coast was 1999, which left 750 people dead or missing.

I’m often asked about the ‘real’ impacts of a changing global climate and I think these more ‘frequent and powerful’ storms are one of the most serious examples. Coincidentally, five days before Typhoon Ketsana slammed Vietnam, Seth Mydans had written a long story in the Times about the long-term potential damage to Vietnam’s coast by rising seas. He quoted a government report suggesting that 17 million people could lose their homes if sea levels rise as anticipated. “Climate experts consider this nation of an estimated 87 million people to be among the half-dozen most threatened by the weather disruptions and rising sea levels linked to climate change that are predicted in the course of this century.”

Unfortunately I think we’ll have to get used to seeing these images of low-lying coastlines around the world flooded, suffering from stronger and stronger storms, whether it’s Danang or Manila, New Orleans or New York City. One friend from Hue wrote: “I spent the day dragging everything in my house up to the roof to dry it in the sun, which has arrived after three days. Luckily I still have a house. Everyone here is worried about … next time.”