Historical perspectives on typhoons and tropical storms in the natural and socio-economic system of Nam Dinh (Vietnam)

This contribution starts with a brief introduction of the effects of typhoons and tropical storms on Vietnam, focusing in particular on the coastal region of Nam Dinh, a province in the northern part of the country and part of the Red River Delta. The magnitude of damage caused by a natural disaster is not solely determined by the direct physical impact of the event, but also depends on the socio-economic and political circumstances that shape a person or a groups’ daily life. Such conditions define where and how people live and work. An overview of the major events since the 19th century shows how important it is to study these events in historical perspective. This paper briefly considers various conceptualizations and definitions of vulnerability. It analyses the destruction caused by a natural disaster in terms of peoples’ vulnerability in a deltaic region. A distinction is made between collective vulnerability and individual vulnerability, each leading to different levels of perception of the disaster. The levels overlap in the discussion because they are interwoven and dependent on one another.