Prime Minister directs to quickly overcome flood consequences in Central region

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed Official Dispatch No. 120/CD-TTg dated November 25, 2024 requesting ministries, branches and localities to proactively respond to and quickly overcome the consequences of floods in the Central region.

The dispatch stated that in recent days, in the Central region, especially in the provinces of Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, there has been prolonged heavy rain, causing landslides, localized flooding, traffic disruption, and some low-lying residential areas, along rivers and streams, have been isolated due to deep flooding, affecting production, life and activities of the people.

According to forecasts, in the next 2-3 days, due to the influence of cold air, there may be strong winds at sea, risk of heavy rain, flooding, landslides, and flash floods in the Central region.

To proactively respond to floods and storms, ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and the State, the Prime Minister requested the Ministers of the Ministries of National Defense, Public Security, Natural Resources and Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Transport, Industry and Trade, Health, Education and Training, Finance and the Chairmen of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, according to their assigned functions and tasks, to closely monitor, proactively direct and deploy the response to strong winds at sea, floods, inundation, landslides, flash floods, and flash floods to ensure timely and effective response, minimizing damage to people's lives and property, and quickly overcoming the consequences when natural disasters and incidents occur.

Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and cities from Ha Tinh to Phu Yen focused on mobilizing forces and means to access deeply flooded and isolated areas to promptly support food, foodstuffs, and necessities for people, preventing people from going hungry.

Continue to review, inspect, promptly detect, proactively warn, and organize the evacuation of residents, especially the elderly, children, women, and vulnerable groups, from deeply flooded areas at risk of landslides, flash floods, and flash floods.

Organize forces to guard, control, and guide safe traffic through spillways, deeply flooded areas, landslide areas or areas at risk of landslides; deploy measures to ensure dam safety; prepare means and forces to support people in evacuating and rescuing when situations arise.

Timely organize visits, encouragement and support for families affected by floods in accordance with regulations; mobilize local forces to support people in repairing houses, cleaning up the environment, quickly restoring traffic routes, essential infrastructure works and production and business immediately after floods.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to continue to closely monitor the developments of natural disasters, floods, forecasts, and promptly inform authorities and people to proactively direct and deploy response work.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to their assigned functions and tasks, coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and localities to direct the scientific and safe operation of irrigation and hydroelectric reservoirs, contributing to flood reduction in downstream areas, while paying attention to proactively storing enough water at the end of the flood season to serve production and people's daily life.

The Ministry of National Defense mobilized drones to support localities in surveying vulnerable areas to promptly detect cracks and areas at risk of landslides and flash floods in order to provide early warnings and take preventive measures, evacuate residents to ensure safety; proactively arranged forces and vehicles in key areas at risk of deep flooding and isolation to be ready to support evacuation, relocation of residents, and rescue when requested by the locality.

The Ministry of Public Security directs the deployment of forces to regulate traffic and provide guidance to ensure traffic safety and security and order in areas affected by natural disasters; directs functional agencies and security and order protection forces at the grassroots level to be ready to deploy to support people in responding to floods and rescue.

The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Transport, according to their assigned functions and tasks, shall direct and guide the implementation of medical examination and treatment and essential medical services for people in flooded areas, environmental sanitation, disease prevention and control during and after floods; implement work to ensure safety for students and teachers, limit damage to facilities, equipment, and learning materials in deeply flooded and isolated areas; implement work to ensure traffic safety, quickly repair landslide-affected traffic routes, especially on main traffic axes.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development closely monitors the situation, proactively directs and urges ministries, branches and localities to deploy disaster response work according to assigned tasks, promptly reports and proposes to the Prime Minister to direct issues beyond its authority.

The Ministry of Finance shall preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies to promptly propose financial support for localities affected by natural disasters to promptly overcome the consequences, restore production and business, and stabilize people's lives.