Nghe An: Localities and units simultaneously deploy response plans for storm Noru

* In Hoang Mai town,Since the afternoon of September 24, Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station has called on ships to take shelter.Storm Noru, guide fishermen to anchor their boats safely, mobilize 100% of the military to be on duty to prevent and fight storms.

Fishermen in Quynh Lap commune (Hoang Mai town) anchor their boats to avoid the storm. Photo: Tran Thanh Yen

The Military Command of Hoang Mai town has prepared boats, buoys, and rescue equipment, and mobilized 30 soldiers to coordinate with communes and wards to proactively prevent and combat the storm.

Mr. Le Ba Ky - Vice Chairman of Quynh Lap Commune People's Committee said that by the end of September 24, all of more than 200 fishing boats had docked at the fishing port and anchored safely. Some fishing boats from Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh,... proactively took shelter from the storm in other provinces.

Hoang Mai Town Military Command prepares for storm prevention, control, search and rescue. Photo: Tran Thanh Yen

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of the Economic Department of Hoang Mai town informed: The locality has more than 700 fishing boats, the government is coordinating with relevant agencies to provide guidance.fishermen shelter from stormsafety; at the same time, mobilize human resources to clear sewers, proactively prevent and combat flooding for crops, lagoons, lakes, and seafood.

* Quynh Luu DistrictThere are currently 850 fishing boats at sea and hundreds of hectares of vegetables, along with hundreds of hectares of ponds and lakes for shrimp farming. These are issues that need attention before storm Noru arrives. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said: Due to coinciding with the time when fishermen return after fishing, most of the boats have come ashore, only a few boats are fishing close to shore, currently the localities and authorities are contacting and calling for them to return to shore.

When storm Noru hits, hundreds of hectares of vegetables in Quynh Luu district are at risk of flooding. Photo: Viet Hung

"The biggest concern is that hundreds of hectares of vegetables in the coastal areas are in the development stage. If heavy rain occurs, they will be flooded and damaged. However, the district has directed localities to propagate to people to grasp storm information in time to harvest possible vegetable areas, in order to reduce damage caused by storms. With brackish water shrimp farming, people should proactively take measures to avoid losses when lakes and dams are flooded," said Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh.

* Tan Ky Districtis also directing the implementation of solutions to cope with storm Noru. According to information from the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, up to now, there are still about 1,000 hectares of winter-spring rice in the communes of Nghia Hop, Nghia Dung, Nghia Dong, Nghia Binh... that have not been harvested. With the motto "green at home is better than ripe in the fields", the district is directing localities to propagate and mobilize farmers to urgently harvest rice before the storm hits.

Due to the heavy rains in the past few days in the district, lakes and dams are basically full of water. If the storm continues, there is a risk of flooding some roads. Previously, on September 24, in Tan Ky, there were some overflow points in flooded roads, causing difficulties for people when traveling.

*Meanwhile,in Vinh city,There is still a large area of ​​summer-autumn rice that has not been harvested yet. In Hung Hoa commune, by the morning of September 25, the locality had only harvested nearly 20/144 hectares of summer-autumn rice. The commune is currently directing people to urgently harvest the remaining area before storm Noru makes landfall. In addition, the locality has also opened drainage sluices to promptly drain water from the fields to the Lam River, preventing widespread flooding.

Vinh City residents harvest vegetables during heavy rains. Photo: Quang An

According to statistics from the Vinh City Economic Department, the entire city has nearly 900 hectares of summer-autumn rice, concentrated in suburban communes such as Hung Hoa, Hung Dong, Nghi An, Nghi Duc, Nghi Lien... so far only 163 hectares (about 18%) have been harvested. The reason is that localities sowed later than other districts. Up to now, the rice has basically ripened from 70% or more, so the city has directed communes to focus on hiring harvesters to speed up the harvest of the remaining area.

For vegetables, communes that are frequently flooded such as Hung Dong, Nghi An... are urgently directing people to harvest the remaining vegetable area early. Currently, the city has sown 8/150 hectares of winter vegetables, localities that have not yet prepared the land and planted winter vegetables have temporarily stopped, and will continue after this storm.

* For Nghi Loc district,With the characteristic of late planting progress as well as frequent lack of water for production, the summer-autumn rice harvest is often later than other localities. However, with the direction of the district, together with the participation of the commune authorities and people, the whole district has harvested 4,800/5,244 hectares.

Localities urgently harvest the remaining rice fields. Photo: Quang An

Currently, there are still more than 400 hectares that have not been harvested, concentrated in localities such as Quan Hanh, Nghi Thuan, Nghi Long, Nghi Trung, ... Nghi Loc district has directed localities to continue to mobilize people to harvest early with rice areas that are over 70% ripe. For areas of young rice that cannot be harvested, it is necessary to focus on clearing canals and doing a good job of irrigation so that if there is heavy rain, the water will drain quickly, avoiding flooding.

* In Yen Thanh,In recent days, the district has had heavy rains over a large area, with a large amount of water flowing from upstream. In particular, in the face of the complicated developments of storm Noru making landfall in the East Sea, the district leaders and the district's Flood and Storm Prevention and Control Steering Committee have directly inspected the weak reservoirs, dams, and drainage canal systems to have a response plan when the storm comes.

A small leak has appeared on the Ma Zu dam body in Tan Thanh commune downstream. Photo: Thai Duong

Inspections showed that at lakes and dams such as Ve Vung, Xuan Nguyen, Ke Sat, Don Hung, Nha Tro, and Quan Hai, the reservoirs were full and overflowed. However, at Ma To dam, which connects to Bau Gia reservoir in Tan Thanh commune with a capacity of nearly 10 million cubic meters of water, due to not being upgraded for many years, small leaks have appeared in the downstream dam body.

To avoid the risk of dam failure when there is prolonged heavy rain, the district has requested the managing unit, Bac Nghe An Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd., together with local authorities, to urgently deploy plans and be ready to respond when bad situations occur, in order to protect the project and the safety of hundreds of households in the downstream area.

Heavy rains in recent days have flooded many residential areas in Lang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Xuan Hoang

The Flood and Storm Prevention and Control Committee of Yen Thanh district has also directly inspected and directed agencies, units and 39 communes and towns to immediately deploy flood and storm prevention and control plans according to the "4 on-site" motto; paying special attention to low-lying areas at risk of flooding, areas along rivers, lakes, dams and degraded irrigation works, and preparing response plans to minimize damage caused by natural disasters such as storms and floods.

* Phuc Son Border Guard Station (Nghe An Border Guard)also proactively respond to heavy rains caused by storm Noru, which is moving rapidly and strongly towards the shore. Accordingly, the unit continues to send working groups to the border villages to inspect areas at high risk of flooding and landslides; warn people to stay away from dangerous areas. At the same time, the unit is ready with forces and means to respond to unusual developments of rain and floods; propagate and mobilize people to proactively implement measures to respond to natural disasters, floods... to avoid being passive and surprised.

Officers and soldiers of Phuc Son Border Guard Station encourage people to take proactive measures to avoid storms. Photo: Le Thach

* 873rd Water Transport Brigade (Logistics Department, Military Region 4)Recently, inspections and surveys have been organized to grasp the situation of vehicles and areas where flooding may occur, posing a danger to people. At the same time, strict flood and storm prevention plans have been developed, and all means and forces have been prepared to respond to this year's storm and flood season.

Prepare equipment and vehicles to help people get to safety if necessary. Photo: Le Van Phu

Assigning tasks to units, Lieutenant Colonel Cao Xuan Ha - Brigade Commander requested to urgently review all preparations, flood and storm prevention plans, search and rescue at the unit and in the locality, focusing on areas on both sides of the Lam River where water levels are likely to rise. Units under the Brigade are ready with all forces, means, food and provisions to evacuate people to safe places when necessary.

With the spirit of all for the people, the unit has strengthened the work of preserving and maintaining vehicles and equipment to maintain and improve quality, ready to mobilize immediately when a situation occurs.

Reporter - Contributor Group