This research documents the post-flood and
typhoon conditions of low income housing in the Thua Thien
Hue Province, Vietnam, an area prone to extreme flooding in
Central Vietnam. The cost of rebuilding houses after a
natural hazard has been always a burden for low income
households and it often led to the elimination of essential
construction practices for disaster resistance. While there has
been remarkable improvement in relief and rehabilitation,
poor people have been disproportionately vulnerable to
extreme events due to their low adaptive capacity and
suffered the same damages every year. The research
documents existing conditions of low income houses in the
Thua Thien Hue province and identifies leading causes of the
building failure from the natural disasters. The quality of
construction and repairs are assessed based on Coastal
Construction Manual and by Federal Emergency
Management Agency. In order to examine people’s
perception toward housing reinforcement as a coping
strategy as well as to identify problems and issues associated
with achieving stronger and safer housing, focus group and
individual interviews were conducted with local residents
from four different flood and typhoon-prone communities.
The research found that many households in the affected
areas now realize the importance of improving housing
structures as a coping strategy to resist the impacts of floods
and typhoons, however due to low income and a lack of
professional instruction and technical guidance in the area,
many households still reside in weak and fragile housing
conditions that cannot withstand climate related risks. In
particular, low-income households spend a considerable
amount of their income on housing repair every year.
Consultation and communication with professionals about
building a resilient housing is lacking. Given that the major
immediate recovery action taken by the local people tends to
focus on repairing damaged houses, providing proper and
applicable construction practices is crucial to improve the
housing condition, but also to contribute to reduce poverty in
Vietnam.