Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directly commanded the response to storm No. 5 at the Forward Command Center in Nghe An.

Also attending the meeting were Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Hien - Deputy Minister of National Defense and members of the Government's working delegation.

Attending the meeting were Lieutenant General Ha Tho Binh - Commander of the Military Region; Major General Doan Xuan Buong - Party Secretary, Political Commissar of the Military Region.
The leaders of Nghe An province include comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.

The leaders of Ha Tinh province include comrades: Nguyen Duy Lam - Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Vo Trong Hai - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Storm level 14, gust level 17

At the Command Center, Comrade Nguyen Hoang Hiep - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment reported to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha the latest information on the developments of storm No. 5 and the situation of key sea dikes in the area affected by the storm.

Accordingly, at 4:00 a.m. this morning, August 25, the storm center was about 220km from Nghe An, about 200km east southeast of Ha Tinh, and about 180km east northeast of Bac Quang Tri.
The strongest wind near the storm center is level 14 (150-166km/h), gusting to level 17 from the morning of August 25 to the end of August 26. The area from Thanh Hoa to Northern Quang Tri will have heavy to very heavy rain with common rainfall of 200-400mm, some places over 700mm. There is a risk of heavy rain over 200mm in 3 hours, which can cause deep flooding.

In addition, from August 25 to 27, the Upper and Central Laos regions will experience heavy rain with rainfall ranging from 100 to 250 mm, with some areas in the Central Laos region experiencing over 500 mm. Heavy rain in this region increases the risk of flooding in the upper reaches of rivers flowing through the North Central region.

Mobilizing 16,500 soldiers, 107,000 militia and reserve forces

Reporting to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Lieutenant General Ha Tho Binh - Commander of the Military Region said that the Military Region has mobilized 100% with 16,500 soldiers, 107,000 militia and reserve forces to participate in standing by, ready to respond to storm No. 5; Coordinated with localities to call 23,307 boats to take shelter, tie up to ensure safety; mobilized 500 soldiers to participate in reinforcing the Hoi Thong dike in Nghi Xuan commune (Ha Tinh); Coordinated with local authorities to participate in evacuating people to safe places.

In addition, border guards in border areas have prepared 426 tons of food and provisions, ready to respond and provide to people when isolated.

Ensure 100% of people are evacuated to safety

Reporting to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung said that the province has reviewed and planned to evacuate 10,242 households with 39,476 people of 10 coastal communes and wards according to scenarios. Early in the morning of August 25, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh went directly to the communes and wards to direct and mobilize forces to continue evacuating people and completed before 9:00 a.m. this morning. Ensuring 100% of people are evacuated to safe places at headquarters, schools,...

Nghe An has 82km of coastline, including 41.783km of dykes and 11.65km of revetments. The dykes and revetments are designed to withstand level 10 storms. Some of the key sea dykes are Dien Chau (former Dien Thanh commune), Quynh Phu (former Quynh Tho commune). In addition to the evacuation of people, the province has also mobilized forces on standby and prepared materials to ensure timely handling when incidents occur.

Up to now, thanks to the support of military and police forces, Nghe An has prepared conditions to respond to storm number 5.

Note that people should not go out from 11am to 6pm.

Directly directing at the Command Center, the Deputy Prime Minister requested localities from Quang Tri to Thanh Hoa to complete the response work to storm No. 5 before 11:00 am today (August 25).

In particular, focus on mobilizing forces to ensure safety for people, especially in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and North Thanh Hoa areas, where the storm is forecast to make landfall.

Strictly carry out the work of being on standby, reinforcing, and preparing forces and materials at key dikes. Localities direct the police force to propagate, mobilize, and prohibit people from going out from 11am to 6pm on August 25.

Faced with the situation of the storm continuously increasing in intensity, with strong winds, equivalent to Typhoon Yagi, ministries and branches must coordinate with media agencies to update the earliest and most accurate information about the storm so that people can raise awareness, not be subjective, have prevention plans, and ensure safety.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized that when making landfall, the storm will have strong winds, long wind retention time, prolonged circulation, and heavy rain, which will cause flooding in low-lying areas; flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas are likely to occur. Therefore, the Deputy Prime Minister requested localities to mobilize forces, machinery and equipment early, especially in isolated areas.

"For mountainous areas, the 4 on-site work must focus on villages, hamlets, and residential clusters" - the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Assessing the importance of communication in directing, responding to and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, the Deputy Prime Minister requested telecommunications agencies to focus on reviewing machinery and equipment for leaders and officers participating in disaster prevention and control at the grassroots level, especially in mountainous areas.

At the same time, it is necessary to prepare scenarios for regulating dams. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to be responsible for the overall regulation of irrigation reservoirs and hydroelectric dams. Localities should grasp, review and make early proposals for regulating and releasing floodwater from dams in the area, to avoid flooding. Resolutely eliminate human-caused incidents in this matter.