On September 29th, 2009, Typhoon Ketsana crossed Vietnam and swirled into the southern part of the Lao Peoples’s Democratic Republic (PDR) before moving into Cambodia. Typhoon Ketsana affected a large geographical area and caused extensive damages to people’s property, social and physical infrastructure and to the area’s productive capacity. The floodwaters swept away houses, crops, schools, hospitals, roads and bridges and caused wide-spread damage to irrigation schemes, aquaculture infrastructure and the riverbanks of the area’s two main rivers, Xekong and Sekaman. Lao’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) reported that more than 28 people died and over 180,000 people were affected.
A Damage Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA) was undertaken to estimate damages, losses, and the medium and longer-term requirements for recovery and reconstruction. The assessment team was led by Lao’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, and consisted of representatives from 12 line ministries and various development partner agencies, including the World Bank, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Asian Development Bank (ADB), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Total damage and losses were estimated at US$ 58 million, causing a roughly estimated loss of value added of US$ 20 million in 2009, or 0.4 percent of GDP. Preliminary recovery and reconstruction needs to go back to pre-Ketsana levels were estimated at US$51.9 million, of which US$40 million were estimated for three most affected sectors, namely housing, agriculture and transport. Eight priority activities were identified for Disaster Risk Reduction over two years, with an additional rough cost of US$ 3.1 million, aiming at developing strong institutional basis; identifying disaster risks, reducing underlying risk factors and investing in early warning systems.