HANOI, June 21 (Xinhua) -- So far this year, 23 people have died or gone missing in Vietnam due to natural disasters, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday.
The disasters, mainly typhoons, floods and landslides, have also caused economic losses of more than 337 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 14.7 million U.S. dollars).
The ministry will establish a national steering center on natural disaster prevention and control by the end of this year, and install flash flood and landslide warning systems on a trial basis in some mountainous areas, local daily newspaper Vietnam News quoted Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong as saying on Friday.
In 2018, natural disasters in Vietnam left 224 people dead or missing, down 30 percent against 2017, and caused economic losses of 20 trillion Vietnamese dong (869.6 million U.S. dollars).
Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by natural disasters and climate change, according to the United Nations Development Program. It faces six or seven typhoons every year on average.
