Minister urges synchronous measures to deal with natural disasters

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, has asked the agencies concerned to take synchronous measures to deal with possible natural disasters.

A house is flooded in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue (Photo: VNA)
A house is flooded in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue (Photo: VNA)

At a meeting of the Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention and Control in Hanoi on July 9, to review its work in the first half of the year, Cuong, who is also head of the committee, emphasised the need to implement the Government’s Resolution 76/NQ-CP dated June 18, 2018, on natural disaster prevention and Resolution 120/NQ-CP dated November 17, 2017, on the sustainable development of the Mekong River Delta in adaptation to climate change, and other documents.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting should pay special attention to forecasting and warning work, promptly providing weather forecast bulletins for agencies at all levels, as well advising on plans and measures to improve forecasting capacity and infrastructure, he said.

He also asked cities and provinces to make plans on repairing and upgrading reservoirs and to prioritise the participation of private businesses in disaster prevention, especially those applying modern technology.

As heard at the meeting, 75 people have been killed or remain missing, while 48 others suffered injuries due to natural disasters in the first six months of 2018.

Total economic losses reached VND 868.5 billion (US$37.73 million).

According to the committee’s report, a total of 14 types of natural disasters have occurred in the country, including two typhoons, two tropical depressions, 88 thunderstorms, seven flash floods and landslides, seven strong gales over the seas, four extreme cold spells and others.

As many as 15,000 hectares of rice and 1,700 hectares of industrial plantations also suffered damage, while nearly 9,000 fowls and 17,000 cattle were killed due to natural disasters.

Minister Cuong said that the weather events in the first half of the year were abnormally extreme compared to the average statistics in the last 20 years, citing the “rare cases” of record rainfall in the northern region in June and the 40-41 Celsius degree heat wave in the northern and central region in recent weeks.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, in the remaining half of 2018, Vietnam may face 12-13 typhoons, with at least four or five making landfall.