More than 10 million text messages warning of severe cold sent to people

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control under the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has coordinated with Zalo to send messages to people in localities affected by severe cold.

As of January 12, about 10.8 million messages have been sent to people in 18 provinces including: Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An through the Zalo OA (Official Account) page "National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention".

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, from the night of January 10, cold air will continue to strengthen and affect the Northwest, Central Central and some places in the South Central regions.

To help people proactively cope with severe cold, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued recommendations on cold prevention for humans as well as cold prevention for livestock and crops. Specifically, people should wear waterproof clothes, avoid getting wet, move slowly when participating in traffic, wear warm enough clothes, especially children and the elderly. People should absolutely not use coal stoves to heat up in closed rooms, which can easily cause lack of oxygen, endangering life; should not drink alcohol when it is too cold outside, and should not bathe for too long.

In addition, for livestock and crops, the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention recommends that people should carefully cover their barns and avoid wind and rain to prevent wet and muddy barn floors. People need to stock up on roughage and fuel to keep livestock and poultry warm, increase sanitation and disinfection of barns, and follow the instructions of veterinary and agricultural extension agencies.

The coordination between the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Zalo helps people access information quickly, easily and accurately. Information provided from the official account of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention on Zalo helps people feel secure and have a timely plan to prevent severe cold.

Deployed for nearly 4 years, the Zalo OA page of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has attracted more than 446,000 interested people. On average, more than 120 million emergency messages are sent to people in areas affected by natural disasters and severe weather each year, contributing to ensuring a continuous and accurate information system to the community. In 2024, Zalo supported the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to send more than 231 million disaster prevention messages to people across the country.