Que Phong mountainous district proactively responds to complex developments of natural disasters

Complicated developments

Que Phong is a large locality located in the Northwest of the province with more than 1,888km², divided into 13 communes and towns. The terrain is strongly divided by many streams and creeks with large slopes. Among them, large river systems such as: Chu River originates from Laos, flows through 2 communes Thong Thu and Dong Van and then flows to Thanh Hoa; in addition, there are Nam Viec, Nam Quang, Nam Giai rivers, which are the upstream branches of Hieu River, creating a large basin, located in high mountainous terrain, so it often causesflash floods, landslides, greatly affecting infrastructure, production and people's lives.

With such terrain, Que Phong district has to suffer a lot of damage caused by natural disasters every year. Most recently, from the afternoon of September 26 to September 29, 2023, due to the influence of a tropical depression, heavy rains occurred in Que Phong district, causing deep flooding and landslides, isolating many villages and hamlets and damaging many houses, facilities and infrastructure in the district. Of which, 333 houses were affected (7 houses completely collapsed; 8 houses were severely damaged; 110 houses were damaged by landslides, rocks...). Not to mention, many schools, medical stations, provincial and district roads were eroded, causing traffic jams. It is estimated that this flood caused more than 82 billion VND in damage.

According to the assessment of natural disaster experts, in addition to types of natural disasters such as severe cold, severe cold, heat, whirlwinds, hail, Que Phong district is an area that suffers from natural disasters from level 2 to level 4 for flash floods, landslides. These natural disasters often occur from August to October, when the area is affected by many storms and tropical depressions, causing heavy rain in the upper reaches of rivers. Heavy rain, concentrated and intense for many days, increases the risk of flash floods, flash floods, along with landslides, mountain faults, etc.

According to the summary report on natural disaster identification of Que Phong district, heavy rains in the area often occur 7-9 times per year, with an average rainfall of over 100mm per time. Due to heavy rains, floods and inundations occur. Flash floods often occur in small basins with sparse vegetation and basin slopes of over 20%. Every year, Que Phong district is often affected by 3-7 large and small floods from 3 main rivers (Quang River, Nam Giai River, Nam Viec River) and large and small streams in the district.

Proactive response

Anticipating the complicated developments of natural disasters, every year local authorities at all levels in Que Phong district always organize well the response readiness work with the motto "4 on-site", aiming to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters, especially to people, property and important works.

In Quang Phong commune - a locality that is often damaged by natural disasters, during the flood at the end of September, 29 households had their houses flooded; 5 landslides occurred (mainly on National Highway 48D); some schools and medical stations collapsed and had their roofs blown off, with total estimated damage of more than 1.6 billion VND. Fortunately, during the recent flood, thanks to careful preparation, there were no human casualties.

Mr. Lo Van Cuong - Chairman of Quang Phong Commune People's Committee said: Since May 2023, the locality has developed a plan and tasks for natural disaster prevention, control and search and rescue for 2023. The commune's natural disaster prevention and search and rescue committee has assigned tasks to departments and management boards of 6 villages and hamlets to organize inspections and assessments of the disaster resilience of works in the area, especially the traffic and irrigation systems. At the same time, it has developed evacuation plans and arranged accommodation for people according to each level of natural disaster. Putting people's safety first, and minimizing damage to facilities and infrastructure...

In addition to the plans of the communes and towns, on May 8, 2023, the People's Committee of Que Phong district also issued Decision 140/QD-UBND on promulgating a plan to respond to natural disasters in the area in 2023. Accordingly, through analyzing and assessing the situation of natural disasters, the People's Committee of Que Phong district has developed a plan to respond to each type of natural disaster and each level of natural disaster. Assigning responsibilities to the Chairman of the District People's Committee, Head of the Command Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue at all levels to promote local resources to prevent, respond to and overcome the consequences of natural disasters. Mobilizing all organizations, individuals, businesses and households to proactively prevent and overcome natural disasters. All sectors and levels must thoroughly grasp and strictly implement the motto "4 on-site" and the principle of "proactive prevention, timely response, urgent and effective remediation".

Or before entering the rainy and stormy season, on July 18, 2023, the District People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 08/CD-UBND to district-level agencies, departments, branches, communes and towns on proactively preventing and combating landslides, ensuring the safety of people's lives and property before and during the rainy and flood season. In particular, heads of agencies, units and localities are assigned to closely monitor the situation of incidents, natural disasters, landslides, proactively inspect and review facilities and infrastructure; organize inspections of residential areas, schools, medical facilities... to promptly detect areas at risk of landslides during heavy rains; resolutely organize relocation or have proactive plans to prevent landslides and evacuate in bad situations, to ensure safety of lives, limit damage to property for people and infrastructure. At the same time, have plans to stabilize the lives of households that have to be relocated...

Mr. Bui Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee said: In addition to causing damage to people's property, natural disasters also cause great damage to infrastructure, especially the traffic and irrigation systems in the area. Just like the flood that occurred last September, it caused landslides at many points on National Highway 16 passing through the area, this is a road managed by the province. Such as landslides on the positive slope at 6 points in Chau Kim commune; at Km265+800, there was a landslide on the positive slope with a length of 30m along the road, causing traffic congestion in Chau Thon commune...

“Although there are response plans, the damage caused by natural disasters is unpredictable and unavoidable. Therefore, in order to overcome the difficulties and damage caused by natural disasters in the area, in addition to promoting internal resources, the district also hopes that the central and provincial departments and branches will pay attention to supporting the district with funding to promptly repair seriously damaged works, especially in traffic and irrigation. At the same time, it is recommended that relevant levels and branches announce natural disasters caused by heavy rains in Que Phong district recently so that the district People's Committee has a basis to complete the dossier to support damage to affected households according to current regulations" - Mr. Hien emphasized.