Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc visited, encouraged, inspected and urged the work of overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3 in the border commune of My Ly (Nghe An).

Also attending were Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Quang Ngoc - Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army; Major General Nguyen Ngoc Ha - Deputy Commander of Military Region 4 and leaders of several central ministries and branches.

On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Le Hong Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of relevant departments, branches and localities.

Deputy Prime Minister sympathizes with people in the face of heavy losses and damages

Upon arriving in Nghe An, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc immediately traveled hundreds of kilometers to the border commune of My Ly - the locality that suffered the most damage due to storm No. 3. Total damage in the commune is estimated at nearly 502 billion VND, of which housing damage is particularly serious.

Specifically, 439 houses were affected, with total damage of about 332 billion VND; of which 221 houses (accounting for more than 70%) were swept away and completely buried, with estimated damage of nearly 199 billion VND.

During the process of preventing, responding to and overcoming damage caused by floods, the Party Committee and the People's Committee of My Ly commune activated "4 on-site"; deployed working groups to each village to inspect and evacuate people, thanks to which no human losses occurred.

At the same time, after the flood, the commune mobilized forces to support overcoming the consequences, providing essential necessities and arranging temporary accommodation for households that lost their homes.

Along with the efforts on the spot, the provincial leaders were present in time to share and direct the overcoming of consequences. On August 1, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Duc Trung and the working group went to the heart of the flood to encourage the people, officers and soldiers.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, agencies, units, sponsors and benefactors have urgently provided food, necessities and cash to help people stabilize their lives soon.

The health sector has sent doctors and nurses to set up field clinics to examine, treat and give out free medicine.

Regarding support forces, in addition to on-site officers and My Ly Border Guard Station, there were also 55 Mobile Police officers and soldiers and 20 officers of the Provincial Forest Protection Department participating in shoveling mud, cleaning houses, and cleaning the environment.

Local authorities and Party committees have also stepped up propaganda work, stabilized people's minds, and encouraged people to overcome difficulties. However, there are still many difficulties ahead, especially as six villages are isolated by road and can only be accessed by water.

At the scene after the flood, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc could not hide his emotions when witnessing with his own eyes the buried houses, the washed away bridges and roads, and the disrupted lives of the people. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his deep sympathy for the heavy losses and damages that the Party Committee, government and people of My Ly commune are suffering.

KDo not let people fall into hunger and lack of housing

Immediately after inspecting the situation in Xieng Tam village, where 62 houses were swept away, the biggest damage in the commune; visiting and giving gifts to the people, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and the Government delegation worked with the leaders of the province and My Ly commune at the commune hall.

At the meeting, comrade Le Hong Vinh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee reported on the work of prevention, response and overcoming the consequences of storm and storm circulation No. 3 in the province.

Accordingly, the floods caused serious damage to property and infrastructure. Updated to 10am on August 2, the estimated damage was up to 3,635 billion VND.

Of these, 450 houses collapsed, were buried or were completely swept away; 5,426 houses were deeply flooded, with their properties damaged or lost after the water receded; another 1,601 houses were damaged by floodwaters and landslides, causing a loss of VND1,545 billion.

Traffic infrastructure was seriously affected with losses of about 1,390 billion VND, especially 16 traffic bridges were washed away or damaged; 9 suspension bridges were washed away; on national and provincial highways, there were 14 landslides, 8 roadbeds were completely broken; in addition, more than 52km of local traffic roads were eroded...

However, it is worth noting that human losses were limited to the lowest level, with 4 deaths in Nam Can, Bac Ly and Nhon Mai communes. Compared to the scale and level of destruction of the historic flood, this is a result that clearly shows the effectiveness of the direction and response work of the local authorities at 2 levels in Nghe An.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the working delegation also listened to the leaders of My Ly commune report on the situation and recommendations and proposals.

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee affirmed: The direction of natural disaster prevention and control from the central to local levels was carried out smoothly and resolutely, thoroughly emphasizing the spirit of not being subjective, thereby helping the province proactively respond and limit damage in the recent flood.

The Provincial Party Secretary especially acknowledged the role of the grassroots government in the context of the two-level local government just coming into operation from July 1, 2025. Although it was the first time of transition, the communes have strictly followed the province's direction, promoted the sense of responsibility, and effectively supported people in evacuation, rescue and relief work.

Regarding the direction of the coming time, comrade Nguyen Duc Trung said that Nghe An province is focusing on 5 key content groups.

The immediate priority is to overcome the consequences of natural disasters and quickly stabilize people's lives in accordance with the Central Government's directive: No one should go hungry, have no shelter or lack basic needs, even in areas that are still divided and isolated.

At the same time, the province is implementing the construction and repair of houses for the affected people, striving to basically complete the house repair within 2 months. The province expects to have a specific plan by mid-August; in the immediate future, it will focus on supporting 450 households whose houses were completely washed away with many resources. In particular, the Ministry of Public Security has raised the issue of supporting the reconstruction of houses for people in the border communes that were heavily affected.

Nghe An is also mobilizing forces to support the overall cleaning and environmental treatment after the flood, while also reviewing areas at risk of landslides to proactively plan evacuations, ensuring absolute safety for people.

Along with that, we will repair essential infrastructure systems, with priority given to transportation, electricity, telecommunications, healthcare and education. In particular, the province has reviewed affected schools and school sites, in which completely damaged schools will temporarily arrange students at main schools or suitable locations, to ensure the progress of the new school year; at the same time, gradually restore production, help people stabilize their livelihoods soon, and ensure socio-economic development after natural disasters.

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Duc Trung also said: Nghe An has allocated 317 billion VND, of which the provincial budget reserve is 205 billion VND and the Relief Fund through the account of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province is 112 billion VND, to support communes damaged by storm No. 3. In addition, the Prime Minister on August 2 decided to support the province with 100 billion VND, from which this resource will be used effectively to focus on repairing essential works.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc expressed the deep concern of General Secretary To Lam and the Party and State leaders for the lives of people in the flooded areas of Nghe An. He emphasized that the spirit of support, assistance and care for people is the top priority at this time and reassured people to rest assured.

The Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged and commended the proactive and determined spirit of local Party committees, authorities and functional forces in disaster prevention, control, search and rescue work.

Regarding key tasks after the flood, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc requested Nghe An province and commune authorities not to let people fall into a situation of not having enough food, housing, medicine or essential conditions for their children's education.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc requested Nghe An province and other localities to quickly rebuild houses for people affected by floods. He directed: The province needs to assign working groups to each commune to proactively grasp the situation and develop specific resettlement plans.

For concentrated resettlement areas, it is necessary to urgently survey and select suitable land locations, carry out leveling and complete the site in the shortest time. In case of needing to change the land use purpose, if there are procedural problems, they must be handled flexibly, allowing conversion in emergency situations, ensuring construction progress.

For migrant households, it is necessary to review and support the selection of suitable land on the spot, quickly level the ground, and invest in essential infrastructure so that people can soon receive land and stabilize their lives.

Comrade Ho Duc Phoc also suggested mobilizing maximum resources from charitable organizations, individuals, and sponsors; where there is ready support, construction should be organized immediately, without waiting. Households receiving land and houses must be fully informed and participate in supervising the construction process to ensure transparency, quality, and early settlement.

He emphasized the need for Nghe An province to focus on investing in building and restoring essential infrastructure after the flood, especially transportation, bridges, water supply and civil works; in which it is necessary to promptly propose the Central Government to consider and approve the policy of upgrading and repairing key routes such as National Highway 7 and National Highway 48.

Regarding long-term, sustainable solutions to respond to natural disasters, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc suggested that Nghe An province should proactively implement measures to prevent landslides and protect the ecological environment along rivers and streams.

Specifically, along the river banks, it is necessary to plant bamboo or trees with deep, clustered roots such as fig, banyan, bamboo... to retain soil, prevent erosion, and protect the river banks; including the area along the Nam Non River in Xieng Tam village, My Ly commune, after people are relocated and resettled, local authorities need to manage and have a plan to plant trees to create a barrier to prevent floodwaters from washing away.

On the Central side, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government has decided to provide Nghe An province with 100 billion VND in emergency support to overcome the consequences of floods. At the same time, at the meeting, he assigned the Ministry of Finance to consider and arrange an additional support of about 500 billion VND from reserve funds to support the province in overcoming the consequences.

On behalf of the leaders of Nghe An province, Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee fully and seriously accepted the instructions of the Deputy Prime Minister, especially focusing on stabilizing the lives of people in affected areas, ensuring students go to school on time for the opening ceremony, and rebuilding important traffic works...