Nghe An deploys natural disaster prevention work in 2022

This morning, March 15, the Provincial People's Committee held a conference to review the work of disaster prevention and control in 2021 and deploy tasks of disaster prevention and control in 2022. Attending and directing the conference were comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control; leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and many representatives of relevant departments, branches and sectors.

In 2021, in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic and unusual natural disasters, in addition to directly affecting agricultural and forestry production, severely damaged infrastructure has also greatly affected people's lives and socio-economy, causing double damage to people's lives.

Comrade Nguyen Van De - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on the natural disaster situation and search and rescue work in the province in 2021. Photo: Tien Dong

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, since the beginning of 2021, many extreme weather phenomena such as tornadoes, lightning, and severe cold have occurred in the province. Specifically, there have been 18 cold spells; 7 heat waves; 31 tornadoes, lightning, hail, and heavy rain; and 12 widespread heavy rains.

In 2021 alone, there were 9 storms and 2 tropical depressions operating in the East Sea. Of these, 5 storms (numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, 8) and tropical depressions (July 4 - July 8) directly affected Nghe An. In particular, storm number 2 caused heavy rain from June 11 to June 13; storm number 6 caused heavy rain and flooding from September 23 to September 27 and heavy rain due to the influence of storm number 8 from October 14 to October 15.

The working delegation of the Provincial People's Committee inspected flood and storm prevention work at dams in the area in 2021. Photo: Tien Dong

Consequences ofnatural disastersThe disaster left a heavy toll, killing 6 people and injuring 4 others. 17 houses collapsed; 22 houses were damaged, roofs blown off; 337 houses were affected by landslides. In addition, 3,934 houses were flooded; 812 households had to be evacuated due to flooding and landslides. Natural disasters also caused a lot of damage to agricultural and forestry production and infrastructure works, with estimated economic damage of about 698,966 billion VND.

In addition, in 2021, Nghe An province had 56 accidents and incidents involving ships at sea. Of which, 4 cargo ships ran aground, 7 fishing boats sank at sea, 2 cargo ships sank at sea, 4 fishing boats caught fire while operating at sea, 10 drowning cases... The accidents and incidents also caused 23 deaths, 7 missing people, 2 injured people, 4 vehicles completely burned, 11 vehicles and 3 rafts sank.

Image of floods in Quynh Luu district in 2021. Photo: BNA documents

Although natural disasters are complicated, localities have actively proposed preventive measures. However, in reality, there is still a situation of encroachment on the protection corridor of irrigation works and dykes, causing difficulties in disaster prevention and response. The communication system in some localities is not guaranteed, reporting is slow and not timely. Some of the cadres working on natural disaster prevention in localities have not been properly trained; there are no specific policies and regimes for the PCTT force, which is limited...

At this conference, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tien - Deputy Director of the North Central Hydrometeorological Station commented that in 2022, the weather is forecast to have many complicated developments, with the risk of tornadoes, hail, and storms occurring frequently during the changing seasons. It is forecasted that in the near future, there will be many heavy rains, with an average rainfall of 100-250mm. Mr. Tien also requested localities to coordinate and provide information to help make the most realistic forecasts and warnings, contributing to effective natural disaster prevention.

Landslide destroys houses in Tuong Duong district. Photo: BNA documents

Some opinions also suggested that during the rainy season, the management boards of reservoirs, irrigation and hydroelectric dams need to closely coordinate with localities to proactively prevent natural disasters, avoid releasing floods and reservoirs at night, causing difficulties in evacuating people. Some localities also suggested that the Provincial People's Committee pay attention to supporting funding to upgrade weak dams and reservoirs to ensure safe water storage.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district, shared the problem that although it is the district with the largest area in the province, people in Tuong Duong mainly have to live next to rivers and streams, with a high risk of landslides. Finding land to resettle people after landslides is very difficult. Therefore, the district requested the Provincial People's Committee to soon allocate funds to repair some resettlement sites, ensuring safety for people when entering the rainy season.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu requested that localities need to proactively adopt "4 on-site" plans to avoid unexpected situations, even in the worst case scenario. Photo: Tien Dong

Speaking at the Conference, Vice Chairman Hoang Nghia Hieu emphasized that sectors and localities need to regularly inspect and review the disaster prevention infrastructure system and weak dams. It is necessary to strictly comply with the documents of the Government and the province, in order to promptly respond to unusual developments of natural disasters. At the same time, proactively implement the 4th plan on the spot, absolutely not allowing unexpected situations to occur, even in the worst case scenario.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Hoang Nghia Hieu awarded Certificates of Merit of the Provincial People's Committee to individuals and collectives with outstanding achievements in PCTT-TKCN work in 2021. Photo: Tien Dong

On this occasion, the Provincial People's Committee also awarded Certificates of Merit to 5 collectives and 5 individuals with outstanding achievements in PCTT-TKCN work in 2021.