Flood impact in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) has an important role in terms of food security and socio-economic development of the region. The VMD is a densely populated area and is a social and economic hotspot for coastal hazard risks and vulnerability. The amount of people exposed to flooding, storm surges and seasonal river floods in VMD is estimated to increase as the sea level rises, land-use changes and urbanization in flood-prone areas is growing. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on assessing and mapping flood hazard, risk and vulnerability of the Mekong delta. There are many flood hazard and risk studies carried out in the VMD, however very little is done with respect to vulnerability. The region is facing a rapid economic growth and vulnerability to floods becomes an important issue to be addressed.The study presented here focuses on mapping of the vulnerability of the VMD, based on the situation in the area and on the available data. The study evaluates the VMD districts from vulnerability point of view and presents maps, which will be helpful to the decision makers who need to take measures on how to reduce and mitigate the flood impact in the area. Collaboration between deltas' administrations, multiple stakeholders and organizations, at national and international level (delta alliances), has to be undertaken to support the most vulnerable areas and to learn from each other. Mapping vulnerability offers the opportunity to get a broad overview on affected areas and on possible adaptation options that could be applied, directing resources at more in-depth investigation of the most promising adaptation strategies. Moreover, at a later stage, it can also serve to evaluate the effectiveness of the adaptation measures.The present study presents a map of flood vulnerability for the VMD for the years 2000 and 2050 (see Main Map). The map is created by applying Coastal Cities Flood Vulnerability Index (CCFVI) methodology; the flood map will overlay flood hazard in order to create flood risk maps using tools such as ArcGIS.