老挝易受各种自然灾害的影响。洪水、风暴和山体滑坡在该国十分普遍。此外，老挝易受干旱、地震和流行病的影响，不同地区的影响程度和严重程度各不相同。当自然灾害影响到脆弱人群，就会造成更大的经济损失，并带来深远的社会影响，甚至对全国的经济影响。风暴造成的极端洪水事件是老挝最常见和最具破坏性的自然灾害。洪水、干旱和山体滑坡导致农作物遭到大规模破坏，影响到农民的生计。自然灾害影响到居住在灾害易发地区的弱势人群，特别是贫困人群。老挝的自然灾害对基础设施、住房、灌溉系统、桥梁、道路和农田造成严重破坏。
洪水。老挝属热带季风气候，干湿两季分明，洪涝灾害在老挝很常见。在西南季风季节之后，8月至9月，洪水主要发生在该国中部和南部省份。然而，老挝约75%的年降雨量发生在5月至10月之间。洪水和干旱是老挝的主要灾害，历史上特大洪水的发生更为频繁。
老挝不同地区的年降雨量差异很大，影响到很大一部分人群的经济收入，因为大部分人群生活在农村地区且依赖农业，然而这些地区容易发生周期性的洪灾。在老挝，有6个主要洪水易发地区，其中5个洪水易发地区位于湄公河平原，1个位于色贡盆地。
自20世纪60年代中期以来，老挝经历了25次洪水，其规模、经济损失和死亡率各不相同。2013年的山洪暴发和季风暴雨造成20人死亡，许多道路和农作物受损。降雨影响了全国数十万人，使他们没有干净的水源，稻田遭到破坏，农作物减产大约50%。2016年老挝北部省份发生的一次重大洪灾影响了1.9万多人，造成至少5人死亡。
干旱。老挝易受长期干旱的影响。季节性降水的变化会影响干旱的严重程度，当年降雨量小于2毫米时，干旱条件恶化，干旱敏感地区受到严重影响。老挝在2003年至2007年经历了两次严重干旱。2003年，老挝北部和中部地区的极端干旱造成了1650万美元的损失。2007年老挝中部地区的干旱造成约100万美元的损失。
老挝深受长期干旱的影响。干旱对农业、粮食安全、清洁水源的获取、货物和人员运输及经济发展造成影响。经济地位低的人群或生活贫困的人群是最脆弱的群体。老挝政府通过国家环境卫生和供水中心，对有受灾风险的人群发出预警，通过在整个旱季减少水的使用，将干旱的影响降到最低。
山体滑坡。山体滑坡影响了老挝农村地区的交通，道路因山体滑坡而中断。老挝主要因为降水量增加，导致山体滑坡，造成道路边坡崩塌阻塞道路。老挝的大部分滑坡是由雨季延长，导致地下水增加造成的，某些山体滑坡还与河岸侵蚀有关。老挝政府对山体滑坡采取的是一种清理和修复的被动办法，而不是一种改进斜坡的积极主动的办法。大部分的山体滑坡导致部分或全部道路不能通行。山体滑坡不仅造成经济损失，交通延误，运输受限，还会带来灾后恢复如清除瓦砾、修葺挡土墙及排水渠、重铺路面等大量工作。
Laos is vulnerable to various natural disasters. Floods, storms and landslides are common in the country. In addition, Laos is vulnerable to drought, earthquakes and epidemics, and the degree and severity of the impact vary from region to region. When natural disasters affect vulnerable people, they will cause greater economic losses and bring far-reaching social impact, even the national economic impact. Extreme flood events caused by storms are the most common and destructive natural disasters in Laos. Floods, droughts and landslides have led to large-scale destruction of crops and affected farmers' livelihoods. Natural disasters affect vulnerable people living in disaster prone areas, especially the poor. Natural disasters in Laos have caused serious damage to infrastructure, housing, irrigation system, bridges, roads and farmland.
flood. Laos has a tropical monsoon climate with distinct dry and wet seasons. Floods are very common in Laos. After the southwest monsoon season, from August to September, floods mainly occurred in the central and southern provinces of the country. However, about 75% of the annual rainfall in Laos occurs between May and October. Floods and droughts are the main disasters in Laos, and catastrophic floods have occurred more frequently in history.
The annual rainfall varies greatly in different regions of Laos, affecting the economic income of a large part of the population, because most people live in rural areas and rely on agriculture. However, these areas are prone to periodic floods. In Laos, there are six main flood prone areas, of which five are located in the Mekong plain and one in the Sekong basin.
Since the mid-1960s, Laos has experienced 25 floods, with different scales, economic losses and mortality. Flash floods and monsoon rains in 2013 killed 20 people and damaged many roads and crops. Rainfall affected hundreds of thousands of people across the country, leaving them without clean water sources, damaged rice fields and reduced crop yields by about 50%. In 2016, a major flood in northern Laos affected more than 19000 people and killed at least 5 people.
Drought. Laos is vulnerable to long-term drought. The change of seasonal precipitation will affect the severity of drought. When the annual rainfall is less than 2mm, the drought conditions deteriorate and the drought sensitive areas are seriously affected. Laos experienced two severe droughts from 2003 to 2007. In 2003, the extreme drought in northern and central Laos caused us $16.5 million in losses. In 2007, the drought in central Laos caused losses of about US $1 million.
Laos is deeply affected by long-term drought. Drought has affected agriculture, food security, access to clean water, transport of goods and people and economic development. People with low economic status or living in poverty are the most vulnerable groups. Through the national environmental sanitation and water supply center, the Lao government issued early warning to people at risk of disaster, and minimized the impact of drought by reducing the use of water throughout the dry season.
Landslide. The landslide affected the traffic in rural areas of Laos, and the roads were interrupted due to the landslide. The increase of precipitation in Laos mainly leads to landslides, causing road slope collapse and blocking roads. Most landslides in Laos are caused by the extension of rainy season, resulting in the increase of groundwater, and some landslides are also related to river bank erosion. The Lao government has adopted a passive method of clearing and repairing landslides, rather than a proactive method of improving slopes. Most landslides make some or all roads impassable. Landslides not only cause economic losses, traffic delays and limited transportation, but also bring about post disaster recovery, such as removing rubble, repairing retaining walls and drainage channels, repaving roads and so on.
