The People's Council of Nghe An province conducted a questioning session on the work of responding to and mitigating the consequences of natural disasters.

Attending the session were: Comrade Nguyen Khac Than - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Comrade Nguyen Van Thong - former Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, member of the Provincial People's Council; Comrade Vo Trong Hai - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Comrade Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation.

Comrades Hoang Nghia Hieu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Nguyen Nam Dinh - Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; and Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, presided over and conducted the session.

Natural disasters have a widespread impact.

The questioning took place in the context of the 2025 natural disasters being assessed as the most severe in recent years, causing comprehensive impacts on production, livelihoods, and the environment.

Natural disasters in 2025 were extreme in both frequency and intensity. The province was affected by two consecutive cold fronts, two periods of severe cold, 12 periods of intense heat, 18 tornadoes, and localized heavy rain accompanied by lightning. Typhoons No. 3, 5, 6, and 10 directly impacted Nghe An province...

This year's rainfall ranged from 1,800 to 2,500 mm, 40-70% higher than the multi-year average; including 9 periods of heavy, widespread rain that caused flash floods, landslides, and severe flooding in many areas.

The damage was assessed as severe and widespread. The entire province suffered 43 casualties (12 deaths, 31 injuries). In terms of property, over 106,000 houses were affected, including 269 completely destroyed and nearly 900 severely damaged. Local authorities evacuated more than 13,000 households with over 41,000 people from areas at risk of landslides and flash floods.

The education and healthcare systems suffered significant losses, with 1,154 schools and 250 medical facilities damaged. Agricultural production was devastated. Essential infrastructure such as roads and electricity was severely damaged. The total estimated damage from natural disasters this year is approximately 8,980 billion VND.

The questioning session attracted significant attention as 14 delegates consecutively asked questions revolving around two main points: addressing the consequences of recent natural disasters and improving the effectiveness of disaster response.

Encourage people to resettle in mixed-use areas.

During the questioning session, in response to delegate Mong Van Tinh's question about immediate and long-term solutions to overcome the consequences and ensure safe housing for the people, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Hoang Quoc Viet, stated that immediately after taking office, the Provincial Party Secretary and the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directly inspected the scene in the severely damaged areas; and requested relevant departments and agencies to urgently implement plans to stabilize people's lives. The overarching directive was to start construction as soon as possible on essential resettlement areas, especially in Muong Tip, Nhon Mai, and other communes with immediate housing needs.

According to him, after typhoon No. 3, the Department mobilized more than 30 officials to 21 affected communes to coordinate with local authorities and people to survey suitable locations. Initial results identified 21 resettlement areas in 15 communes, capable of accommodating more than 1,000 households.

However, the majority of land in mountainous areas is forest land, and the legally mandated process for converting forest land to other uses typically takes about 70 days. Given the urgent situation, the Department has unanimously agreed to prioritize providing resettlement land first, with infrastructure development to be completed gradually later.

Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet stated that the Department has been involved in supporting the communes in carrying out the entire technical process: surveying the planning, preparing explanatory reports on the conversion of forest land use, assessing environmental impacts, surveying, and extracting land records… These steps are carried out simultaneously, instead of sequentially as is customary. At this meeting, the Department also presented the policy on land acquisition for resettlement purposes to ensure progress.

Besides building a centralized resettlement area, the Department has determined that the mixed resettlement plan, as stipulated in Resolution 09 of the Provincial People's Council, is a faster and more feasible solution. Once people find land within their village or hamlet, the province will provide 250 million VND per household to build a house.

However, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Hoang Nghia Hieu was not satisfied with the progress, although he assessed Resolution 09 as a correct policy. He directly questioned: The need is very great, but the number of households receiving support is too small; where are the obstacles and what are the solutions?

The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment stated that, to date, only 101 out of 688 households eligible for resettlement have settled into their new homes, meaning more than 580 households have yet to do so. The biggest reason is that the support mechanism under Resolution 09 only disburses funds after investment. "But the people have just experienced storms and floods, losing all their assets. Where will they get 250 million VND to build a house before receiving support?" he pointed out.

The second difficulty is land availability. In many mountainous areas, even though people want to relocate to mixed-use housing, they cannot find suitable land; or land is scarce, and landowners are unwilling to transfer ownership. This slows down progress despite clear policies and a great need for housing.

Based on that experience, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment suggested that communes flexibly apply the advance payment mechanism to help people build houses; at the same time, specialized departments should closely coordinate with local authorities in finding land, mobilizing people to support each other, and creating conditions for early implementation of construction.

During the questioning session, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Nguyen Nam Dinh, suggested a policy-level approach: Instead of providing 100% post-investment support, a revision could be considered to provide partial support upfront, with the remainder disbursed after completion. He then asked, "Does the relevant professional sector support this approach?"

The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment affirmed complete agreement. He stated that the regulations on post-investment support were designed strictly to prevent situations where people receive money but then don't build houses. However, the reality after the storms and floods shows that people have nothing left to start with. "Therefore, amending the policy so that people can receive a portion of the support upfront is absolutely necessary," he said, adding that the Department will take the lead in coordinating with other sectors to provide specific advice to the Provincial People's Committee for submission to the Provincial People's Council for consideration.

Further elaborating on infrastructure repair efforts, particularly in transportation, Pham Hong Quang, Standing Committee member of the Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Department of Construction, stated that three consecutive storms in July-September caused "extremely large and intense" destruction, severely damaging transportation infrastructure throughout the province, especially in the Mekong Delta.

For routes managed by the Department alone, the damage has exceeded 1,500 billion VND, not including the system of roads in districts, communes, and villages. With many routes destroyed, the urgent need was to clear the roads for rescue operations. The Department mobilized all its resources, focusing on critical points, and as a result, most key routes were quickly cleared, ensuring timely access to the flood-stricken areas.

To date, the first phase of repairs is basically complete and will be fully finished before December 30th; at the same time, the Department is advising the province to reinforce critical sections. However, many commune roads and village entrances remain in disarray. The Department has directly supported many localities and proposed that the province allocate funds for communes to proactively rent equipment. It has also requested localities to develop realistic disaster prevention plans, especially plans to ensure traffic flow in the initial hours of an incident.

The questioning session not only revolved around damage in mountainous areas but also heated up with the issue of coastal dike infrastructure. Responding to Representative Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa's question about the progress of investment and reinforcement of river and sea dikes, Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet stated that Nghe An has a dike system that is "both long and has many vulnerable points," while investment resources are limited, leading to the deterioration of many sections without the possibility of comprehensive repairs.

The province has proactively proposed central government support and allocation of local funds, but the needs still exceed the capacity. He said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has sent a survey team to identify critical dike sections to include in the public investment plan for the 2026-2030 period; the province will also allocate resources to reinforce urgent sections.

Improving forecast quality and the effectiveness of the "4 on-site" approach.

Besides addressing the consequences of recent natural disasters, improving forecasting and response capabilities is considered a fundamental and sustainable solution. This is also a matter of concern for many delegates.

Responding to delegate Nguyen Cong Van's question about the current state of "four on-the-spot" capacity in communes and what needs to be done to prepare "early and in advance," the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Hoang Quoc Viet, stated: The operation of two levels of local government from July 1, 2025, both facilitates and poses significant challenges to disaster prevention and control.

The advantage is that the commune is now directly responsible, no longer dependent on the intermediate level of the district as before. As a result, disaster response plans are more tailored to the local area, assigned tasks are clearer, and responsibilities are specifically defined.

However, challenges arose immediately. The new model had only been running for 22 days when Nghe An faced Typhoon No. 3, a challenge that was too quick and too strong for many of the newly established communes. He pointed out: Only a few central communes with experienced officials, sufficient manpower, and an organizational foundation were able to implement it well. The majority of communes were still struggling, from developing plans and compiling reports to handling real-life situations. Therefore, during the recent storm, the province and the Department had to increase their presence at the grassroots level.

The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment believes that a comprehensive capacity-building strategy is needed at the commune level. The focus should be on strengthening the local leadership team, especially the commune Party secretaries and chairmen. Cadres who previously held leadership positions at the district level, when transferred to the communes, are expected to play a pivotal role, helping communes accelerate their adaptation and improve their situational response.

Alongside this, there is a need to invest in sufficient basic rescue equipment, supplies, and tools so that the commune can handle initial incidents on its own, instead of waiting for higher authorities. The logistics mechanism and task allocation also need to be adjusted in accordance with the spirit of the two-tiered local government system.

Regarding this issue, delegate Ho Thi Thuy Trang raised a question about the disaster forecasting and warning system, a crucial factor in risk reduction.

Mr. Hoang Quoc Viet stated that the roadmap set by the Central Government is entirely consistent with the province's orientation to invest in upgrading and expanding modern forecasting and warning systems to better serve disaster prevention and control efforts. For Nghe An, a locality frequently affected by storms and floods with a very high risk margin, this requirement is not just a wish but has become a very important task.

However, the province's budget resources are very limited, meaning that many needs, even urgent ones, must be carefully considered before investment is allocated. From the perspective of specialized agencies, the Department of Agriculture and Environment desires a synchronized, modern warning system with interconnected data and integrated artificial intelligence to accurately predict, transmit data in real time, and issue early warnings to the right place at the right time. However, to achieve this standard, the province must proceed step by step, initially focusing on the most vulnerable areas.

Over the next 2-3 years, the Department will advise the province to allocate funds to support specialized units and local authorities in installing warning systems and monitoring stations for rain and wind in high-risk areas. The focus will be on coastal communes and wards frequently affected by strong storms; mountainous areas prone to landslides; and especially border communes adjacent to Laos, which are directly impacted by extreme weather events.

After completing the priority phase, the province will move towards a long-term roadmap to build a province-wide disaster warning and forecasting system. This system will be designed for synchronous connectivity, applying AI to data analysis, ensuring fast, accurate, and seamless operational information from the provincial level to local levels.