A temporaty house is erected for floof-hit locals in Son La (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan
Phuc asked for prompt measures to be taken to support flood-hit communities’
re-building efforts during a meeting with officials from Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh,
Yen Bai and Son La in Hanoi on October 26.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD), heavy rains and flood from August 2-3 and October 9-10 in
the four localities caused 91 deaths and missing, while collapsing more than
356 houses with total property loss of over 8.5 trillion VND.
Meanwhile, torrential rains from October 9-12 in Nghe
An and some northwest provinces resulted in devastating floods in some rivers,
and forced Hoa Binh reservoir to open eight floodgates for the first time.
Floods in the Hoang Long river in Ninh Binh and the
Cau Chay river in Thanh Hoa exceeded the record level by 20-30cm, causing
overflow and damage in 252 dyke areas.
Serious landslides also affected mountainous localities,
especially Tan Lac, Da Bac, Kim Boi districts and Hoa Binh city of Hoa Binh
province.
Since early this year, natural disasters has left 245
deaths and missing, collapsing over 4,600 houses, seriously damaging more than
102,00 others across the country. Total property losses amounted to 36.5
trillion VND (more than 1.6 billion USD).
The MARD held that geographical features and deforestation
were among reasons behind heavy downpours and floods in northern mountainous
region, along with poor forecasting capacity.
It proposed the Prime Minister provide urgent
investment for these localities to fix and reinforce dykes, together with improving
resilience of public works and efficiency of warning equipment.
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung pointed to the necessity to review
all areas prone to flash flood for preventive measures, as well as adopt solutions
to maintaining lakes and dams to ensure their smooth operation.
PM Phuc asked for reviewing disaster response
activities, from forecasting, directing, fighting and recovering process to
draw lessons.
Along with cutting interest rates and rescheduling
loans for the locals, the PM asked the localities to pay special attention to
the production of the winter-spring rice crop and care for them in the upcoming
Lunar New Year festival.
He assigned the MARD to provide varieties for
flood-hit communities, while requesting authorized agencies to ensure smooth
transportation and supply of power, especially in northern mountainous
provinces. Population planning should also be completed towards ensuring safety
for people, he added.
He also asked the localities to propose suitable
assistance for them to quickly overcome consequences of the disasters and
stabilise locals’ lives.
The Government leader also agreed with the MARD’s
suggestion to organise a national conference on natural disaster prevention and
control in December this year.-VNA