Hoang Mai Town: Actively preparing the "4 on-site" plan

(Baonghean) -In 2013, Hoang Mai Town suffered heavy losses in both human life and property due to floods. Learning from the previous year, the government and people of Hoang Mai Town are actively preparing 4 on-site plans to minimize the damage caused by floods and storms.

Quynh Phuong ward residents prepare flood and storm prevention plan in 2014. Photo: Viet Hung (Quynh Luu Station)

Returning to Mai Hung ward, one of the "flood centers" of Hoang Mai town, traces of the "great flood" are still there, some sections of Hoang Mai river are eroded, and sections of fences have collapsed in newly completed residential areas. Mr. Dau Danh Chien in block 10 of Mai Hung ward said: "Never before have our people witnessed such a historic flood that caused such great damage. To cope with this year's flood season, my family has built an additional "attic" to store rice and paddy so that when it rains and storms, we have a place to take shelter. Last year, when it rained and flooded, the whole family had to cling to the roof, which was very dangerous." According to Mr. Chien, his family is preparing to buy bamboo to make rafts to prevent flooding.

Mr. Dau Viet Hien - Chairman of Mai Hung Ward People's Committee said: The ward has over 2,000 households, of which over 1,400 households are located in flooded areas. Up to this point, the ward has completed plans to deal with the rainy and stormy season. Specifically, it has identified key areas with over 200 heavily flooded households in hamlets 10, 12, 13, 20. When releasing floodwater from Vuc Mau lake, if flooded, the ward's militia and self-defense force will organize the relocation of all the above households to a mountainous area more than 1 km from the ward center. Up to this point, the ward has mobilized hundreds of households to expand their houses to make attics to avoid rising floodwaters. Notably, the whole commune currently has over 250 boats of all kinds, of which over 200 are bamboo and plastic boats, the rest are basket boats woven by the people themselves. Learning from last year's experience, the ward recommends that people with over 100 hectares of crop production land in flood-prone areas should harvest before July, and then stop production because floods will cause damage.

We returned to Quynh Trang commune, a commune located downstream of Vuc Mau lake, which often suffers the first damage when the flood is released. Mr. Nguyen Luong, hamlet 5, said: My family raises freshwater fish on a fairly large area of ​​over 1,500 m2. To avoid damage, we will harvest around July 15, following the motto "green at home is better than old in the field". If we continue to raise big fish, when the flood comes, we may lose both "lead and net". Mr. Pham Van Nhan - Head of hamlet 5, Quynh Trang commune, confided: The hamlet has 172 households, most of which are located along the Hoang Mai river, close to the flood discharge area of ​​Vuc Mau lake. Aware of the danger from the previous flood, the hamlet has established a PCBL mobile team of about 80 people, of which about 10 people have the function of operating and controlling 5 boats when an incident occurs, with the task of rescue. Currently, over 30 households have invested in building attics and mezzanines to avoid floods. 10 hectares of fish farming are recommended to be harvested before July.

Mr. Dau Minh Cong - Chairman of Quynh Trang Commune People's Committee shared: If Mau reservoir discharges 3 gates or less, it will not cause flooding. If it discharges 4-5 gates combined with heavy rain, it will quickly cause flooding for over 486 households/1,756 households. To proactively cope with the flood season, in addition to strengthening the Commune Flood Control Command Board, the commune implements the "4 on-site" plan. In all hamlets, a Flood Control Shock Team is established to rescue people when incidents occur. The Commune People's Committee has "contracted" 10 fishing boats of fishermen along the river to rescue when flooding occurs. Because of the previous flood, motorboats came to rescue but the water flowed so fast that the boats had difficulty reaching the flooded area. Fortunately, there was a force of fishermen to rescue people in time. In addition, the commune also contracts with grocery stores when needed to supply and sell on credit to people instant noodles, rice, fish sauce, cooking oil, MSG... during the time of being isolated by floods. The commune has developed a plan to relocate 495 households when necessary to 3 locations: the commune People's Committee headquarters, the commune cultural house, and the commune secondary school. The whole commune has over 35 hectares of freshwater fish farming, which the commune recommends harvesting before July.

Mr. Pham Chi Dien - Head of the Economic Department of Hoang Mai Town added: Learning from the previous flood, to proactively prevent and respond promptly, Hoang Mai Town has strengthened the Flood Prevention and Control Command Committee and the Flood Prevention and Control sub-committees. Organize and implement well the "4 on-site", focusing on strengthening the core militia force ready to mobilize when required. Conduct statistical reviews of households living in dangerous places such as landslides, floods... to have a plan to evacuate to a safe place, and encourage households to reserve food for at least 5 days when a natural disaster occurs.

According to the review, the whole town needs to evacuate about 2,800 households depending on the level of the storm and rainfall, including 2,200 households in the coastal area, 600 households in the Hoang Mai riverside area, concentrated in the communes of Quynh Di, Mai Hung, Quynh Trang, Quynh Lap, Quynh Thien... The town People's Committee deployed forces to assigned areas, ready to rescue and evacuate promptly; Contracted materials and means to be ready to respond, rescue and handle construction incidents when floods and storms occur, and access to flooded and isolated areas. Mainly evacuate people on the spot in high-rise residential buildings and high-rise state buildings. Mobilized canoes, motorboats of functional agencies and people's boats to organize access to flooded areas.

However, many people in Hoang Mai Town are still subjective about flooding. Some people think that the previous flood was due to an accident, so there is no need to buy boats or build additional attics. Along the Hoang Mai River, many houses are still poured with concrete, with bamboo poles encroaching on the riverbed, which will be very dangerous during the rainy season. For the PCBL to be effective, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai Town needs to review and adjust the flood discharge process of Vuc Mau reservoir, develop a flood discharge scenario for Vuc Mau reservoir and warn of the level of flooding in the downstream area, a corresponding plan to evacuate people, build a warning system, notify the overflow discharge of Vuc Mau reservoir, and propose a plan to establish irrigation planning for Hoang Mai Town. While the flood discharge scenario has not been developed, the unit operating Vuc Mau reservoir needs to grasp information on weather developments to flexibly discharge floods. It is possible to discharge floods before heavy rain is forecast to minimize risks for the downstream area. There needs to be a mechanism to support people in flooded areas along the Hoang Mai River to buy more small boats to proactively evacuate when floods come suddenly.

Van Truong