Nghe An suffered nearly 2,700 billion VND in damage due to natural disasters in 2017.

On the afternoon of March 26, the Nghe An Provincial Military Command held a conference to review the work of natural disaster prevention, fire and explosion prevention, forest fire prevention, search and rescue; guarding work in 2017 and deploying tasks in 2018.

Colonel Tran Van Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Commander of the Provincial Military Command, chaired the conference.Attending the conference were comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of leaders of a number of relevant departments and branches.

Overview of the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

In 2017, the province was affected by 28 cold spells and 9 heat waves. The heat waves caused widespread drought, causing most small dams to have only about 20-30% of their capacity.

In addition, in 2017, Nghe An also suffered 22 storms, 3 tornadoes, 1 tropical depression, 3 floods...

These natural disasters left 23 people dead and missing, and 15 injured. The total economic damage suffered by Nghe An province due to natural disasters last year amounted to nearly VND2,700 billion.

Cua Hoi beach devastated after storm No. 10 in 2017. Photo: Tien Hung

Not only on land, 52 accidents also occurred at sea in Nghe An, causing 10 deaths and missing people. Of these, 9 vehicles sank.

Regarding fires and explosions, the province had 9 incidents, injuring one person and causing damage of about 7.7 billion VND. In addition, in 2017, the province also had 8 forest fires, causing damage to 8.5 hectares of forest....

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Ha - Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff of the Provincial Military Command said that in 2017, localities and units had resolutely and synchronously deployed and well prepared all three stages of prevention, response and overcoming consequences, thus limiting damage.

In particular, in the work of preventing and overcoming storm No. 10 and tropical depression, the collective Military Command of Nghe An province and Colonel Tran Van Hung personally were awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister - Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control....

Leaders attending and chairing the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Dinh Viet Hong said that the work of preventing natural disasters, fires, explosions, forest fires, collapse rescue and search and rescue has always been identified as a key task. "In 2017, there were many influencing factors such as the political security situation and social safety with many complicated issues. The economy in remote areas still faced many difficulties. Meanwhile, the weather was unusual, causing great loss of life", the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized.

Recognizing and appreciating the results of the military forces in this work, comrade Dinh Viet Hong pointed out a number of tasks that need to be focused on in 2018: Continue to strictly maintain combat readiness; closely coordinate with the police, advise local authorities, promote the four-on-the-spot motto; maintain military patrol and control activities; strictly implement the rescue and relief drill program, be ready to respond when ordered, especially do a good job of mass mobilization work.