Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc: Must be proactive and synchronous in preventing and combating natural disasters

On the afternoon of May 15, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the National Conference on natural disaster prevention, control and search and rescue in 2019 in the form of an online conference to the district level. Attending the conference were Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung - Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong - Deputy Head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention. Photo: VNA

At Nghe An bridge, comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue chaired. Attending were comrade Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue; Nguyen Van De - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and representatives of relevant departments and branches. Photo: Pham Bang

Natural disasters are complex and unpredictable.

Natural disasters in 2019 did not occur in a rapid and fierce manner, but had many extreme and abnormal factors across all regions of the country, with 16/21 types of natural disasters, including 11 level 3 natural disaster risks: 8 storms and 4 tropical depressions; in addition, there were 222 thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning; 10 flash floods, landslides; 4 cold spells; 13 heat waves; 63 heavy rains, floods; 13 earthquakes; high tides, riverbank erosion, coastal erosion in many areas in the Mekong Delta...

Damage caused by natural disasters in 2019 was minimized, especially in terms of human lives, but 133 people still died and went missing. Total economic damage was over 7,000 billion VND, much lower than the damage caused by natural disasters in 2018 (estimated at nearly 20,000 billion VND).

In Nghe An, in 2019, there were 3 storms, 14 rains and floods causing severe inundation. Natural disasters killed 9 people, injured 10 people, collapsed 33 houses, damaged 1,583 houses. Estimated economic damage was about 811.5 billion VND. The whole province had 51 accidents and incidents involving ships at sea, injuring 20 people, killing 12 people and leaving 6 people missing.

Since the beginning of 2020, natural disasters have continued to develop in an extreme and unusual manner; there have been 7 widespread thunderstorms and hailstorms across the country; severe drought and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta; 11 earthquakes; riverbank and coastal landslides and subsidence have developed complicatedly in the Mekong Delta.

By the end of April 2020, natural disasters had left 11 people dead or missing, over 44,000 houses collapsed, damaged, and had their roofs blown off; over 100,000 hectares of rice and crops were affected. Total economic damage was nearly VND 3,183 billion.

Many streets in Vinh City were heavily flooded after heavy rain in October 2019. Photo courtesy

According to the General Department of Hydrometeorology, 2020 is forecasted to be a year of severe, complex, and unpredictable natural disasters. This is a hotter year than average, with global temperatures possibly increasing by 1.1 degrees Celsius; developments towards drought and water shortage in the first half of the year nationwide; heavy rain, storms, and floods concentrated in the second half of the year, especially in the Central region.

It is forecasted that there will be about 11-13 storms and tropical depressions (TPDs) operating in the East Sea, of which about 5-6 will directly affect the mainland of our country. They will be concentrated in the Central and Southern regions in the second half of 2020. Dangerous weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, and hail often appear during the transitional season nationwide.

Identify proactive spirit

Concluding the conference, the Prime Minister said that natural disasters are becoming increasingly extreme, abnormal and negative. Storms, floods, thunderstorms, droughts, saltwater intrusion, etc. occur all year round, from the plains to the mountains.

Reiterating that the forecast of natural disasters in 2020 is harsh and unpredictable, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested ministries, departments, branches and localities to determine a proactive and synchronous spirit in responding to natural disasters, thereby minimizing damage.

The Prime Minister requested ministries, departments, branches and localities to urgently complete the agencies directing and commanding natural disaster prevention. Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu

Emphasizing that natural disaster prevention is a regular and continuous task, both immediate and long-term, the Prime Minister requested ministries, sectors, and localities to urgently improve the agencies directing and commanding natural disaster prevention; Improve the capacity of staff, direction, and administration, effectiveness and efficiency of the system of agencies directing and commanding natural disaster prevention at all levels; Invest in facilities, modernize equipment and technology; Improve the capacity of the team of natural disaster prevention officers at all levels.

At the same time, review and complete the scenario for natural disaster response and search and rescue; prepare materials, equipment, and human resources to respond promptly, especially the spirit of 4 on-the-spot. Improve the quality of forecasting and warning, including improving the capacity of teams working on forecasting and preventing natural disasters at all levels. Invest in improving the resilience of infrastructure works to natural disasters, avoid subjectivity, and ensure the highest safety for people when natural disasters occur.