The department reported that in 2020 Vietnam witnessed 576 natural disasters, including 14 storms, two low tropical pressures, 264 thunder and hailstorms, 132 flash floods and 90 droughts and earthquakes.
Rescue force is looking for missing people in the central region of Vietnam after Storm Molave.
Natural disasters injured 912 others, brought about total losses of VND39.94 trillion (USD1.73 billion).
Between October and November, the coastal central region was hit by nine storms. Among those, Molave was considered the strongest storm in Vietnam over the past two decades.
The storm caused torrential rain for seven central localities from Nghe An to Quang Ngai, leading to the historic flooding. This resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries.