Typhoon Nari caused severe damage to Da Nang City in Vietnam in October 2013, injuring 11 people, collapsing 122 houses, and damaging over 5,500 houses. The Lighthouse Corporation, a construction company located in Da Nang, had been affected by natural disasters each year prior to Typhoon Nari. After attending a USAID-sponsored disaster risk management training in 2012, Lighthouse Corporation implemented strategies to strengthen disaster preparedness, such as analyzing risks, training staff, and developing an action plan. These preparations helped protect Lighthouse Corporation from damage during Typhoon Nari, while the rest of the city experienced outages and destruction.

1. Typhoon Nari and the Lighthouse Group
Vietnamese business
takes the initiative in
disaster risk
management with
support from USAID
Mr. Tran Phuc Tri from Lighthouse Corporation
attending DRM training in Da Nang
Photo credit: VTV.
Strengthening the roof before the storm Light-
house Corporation. Photo credit: Lighthouse
Strengthening doors before the storm at the
Lighthouse office building
Photo credit: Lighthouse
The 11th
typhoon to hit Vietnam this year, Typhoon Nari, made landfall
in Da Nang on 15th
October 2013. The typhoon with its 130km/h gusts
and heavy rainfall caused severe damage to the city. 11 people were
injured, 122 houses collapsed, almost 5,500 houses suffered substan-
tial damage and the entire city experienced electricity disruption which
was only restored on October 20th
. Da Nang City People s Committee
estimate total damage from Typhoon Nari will be 868.8 billion VND or
over 41 million USD.
Lighthouse Corporation is a construction company that provides con-
struction, architectural, construction supplies, real estate development
and investment services. Located in Da Nang City Lighthouse Corpora-
tion is affected by natural disasters every year. The storms, strong
winds, heavy rain and floods cause direct damage to their business. In
recent years storms have interrupted supply of materials; caused the
collapse of windows, doors and walls at buildings including an office,
warehouse and factory; damaged goods and products; as well as
putting their employees at risk.
Concerned about how to reduce disaster risks, in 2012 the company
sent managers to attend an Asia Foundation Disaster Risk Manage-
ment (DRM) training sponsored by USAID under the Strengthening
Public-Private Partnerships for Disaster Risk Management and Com-
munity Resilience in Vietnam project. Immediately after completing the
course, the company put in place a series of strategies to strengthen
their DRM capacity. They began by carrying out analysis and evalua-
tion of hot spots/urgent actions. They then provided basic training on
DRM to staff; drafting a detailed action plan, piloting and adjusting it to
the situation at the company. This plan continues to be reviewed and
adjusted regularly. Furthermore, they also developed regulations on
rewards and punishments to motivate employees to implement the
plan. The plan established by Lighthouse Corporation has now been
adopted as a best practice case study to share with other companies
taking the DRM course.
Despite the damage suffered by Da Nang from Typhoon Nari, Ligh-
thouse Corporation was almost unaffected by the typhoon. Mr. Tran
Phuc Tri, the focal point for DRM at the company said With good
preparation and checking before the storm, we applied some additional
protection to the metal steel roof of the old office and protection of
doors and windows. The company suffered no damage from Typhoon
Nari.
Mr. Tri even applied similar methods to protect his own house and
shared Now I can safely have a drink inside my house with no worry
as all the doors and windows are appropriately strengthened and pro-
tected!