However, overcoming the pain of natural disasters, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the armed forces, local authorities, and people have joined hands and responded promptly, demonstrating the spirit of “serving the people” and “leaving no one behind”.
Under the timely and decisive direction from the central to the local levels, rescue, relief, and recovery activities are being urgently and decisively deployed, helping people gradually stabilise their lives after the storm.
Struggling for life in the eye of the storm
On the night of November 6, when storm Kalmaegi made landfall in Gia Lai Province with winds of level 11, gusts of level 12-13, hundreds of houses collapsed, roofs were blown off, traffic was cut off, and the power grid was cut off over a large area. That very night, the Forward Command Centre in Gia Lai province and 13 working groups in the localities took action. The fire prevention, fire fighting, and rescue police force of the provincial police organised the rescue of more than 200 people trapped in collapsed houses, including many elderly people and children. At the same time, the mobile force of the provincial Military Command used motor vehicles, including BTR-152 armoured vehicles to urgently evacuate 15 people at risk of being unsafe to shelters.
Nguyen Thi Mai, 75 years old, residing in Village 8, Bien Ho Commune, is paralysed and lives alone in a seriously degraded house. At the critical moment, the police force promptly evacuated Mai from the house at risk of collapsing. “The sky was pitch black, the wind howled as if it wanted to blow everything away. At that time, I thought everything had collapsed, luckily the police arrived at the right time,” Mai emotionally recounted. Colonel Pham Huu Truong, Deputy Director of Gia Lai Provincial Police, affirmed: “We clearly identify that protecting people’s lives and property is our top priority. Even in the dark and dangerous night, the police force is always ready to join the people in fighting natural disasters.”
Steeped in love, while the storm was at its peak on the night of November 6, Tay Son Commune Police, Dak Lak Province, received news that So Thi Ngo’s child had a severe stomachache, but no one dared to take her to the hospital. Under direct instructions from Lieutenant Colonel Chu Quoc Doanh, Chief of Commune Police, three police officers worked through the night, through the forest, and overcame 45 km of road with many fallen trees to bring the child safely to the medical centre. “If it weren’t for you guys, I don’t know what would have happened to my child…”, Ngo emotionally shared.
Statistics showed that in the whole Gia Lai province, 199 houses collapsed, 12,447 houses had their roofs blown off, 15 boats sank, more than 334 aquaculture cages and rafts were swept away, many important national highways had fallen trees, landslides, and bridge piers were swept away. Preliminary estimates of damage were more than 5 trillion VND.
Compassion through storms
In Dak Lak Province, the storm killed 3 people, injured 2 people; 12 houses collapsed, more than 320 houses had their roofs blown off, and 147 houses were flooded. In addition, about 54,000 aquaculture cages and rafts were damaged, many roads were eroded, and traffic was cut off. The power grid was also seriously affected. According to Deputy Director of Dak Lak Electricity Company Huynh Quoc Long, as of the morning of November 7, more than 324,000 customers in the area were still without power. The technical department mobilised more than 460 engineers to urgently repair damaged transformer stations, 110kV lines, and medium and low voltage power grids.
The provincial border guards were also present at the hot spots. Colonel Ro Lan Ngan, Deputy Political Commissar of the Dak Lak Provincial Border Guard, said: “We proactively helped people according to the motto that wherever people needed, there were soldiers.” Border guards tied up houses, mobilised fishermen to take shelter, evacuated people from flooded areas, rescued isolated victims, organised health check-ups, remediated the environment, and limited post-flood epidemics.
In Quang Ngai Province, the storm left 3 fishermen missing, 3 injured, 61 houses with roofs blown off, and many embankments with severe landslides. In Long Phung Commune, just a few hours after the tornado passed, 45 houses had their roofs completely blown off. Since early morning on November 7, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the provincial armed forces have coordinated with the militia to repair houses and reinforce damaged structures. Nguyen Tan Loc, Vinh Phu Village, emotionally shared: “The sudden tornado completely blew off the roof of my house and damaged many belongings. My family is very happy to have officers and soldiers come to support and help re-roof the house. Uncle Ho’s soldiers are truly wonderful.”
Tinh Khe Commune recorded 157 houses partially collapsed due to sea waves, the coastal embankment completely eroded with total estimated damage of nearly 32 billion VND. My Khe tourist area was severely damaged. The commune People’s Committee has proposed the province to provide emergency support of 5 billion VND to repair key items, especially works with the function of preventing natural disasters. At the same time, the helicopter of Division 372 (Air Defence – Air Force) was mobilised by the Ministry of National Defence to the Ly Son sea area to search for 3 missing fishermen at the request of Quang Ngai province. The search mobilised inter-sectoral forces from the ground to the air, demonstrating the determination not to miss any lives.
Synchronised actions, post-disaster recovery
After the storm, the weather in the localities gradually became sunny. Green tree companies, electricity, transport, and environmental sectors are racing against time to clear fallen trees, fix power grid problems, dredge routes, distribute necessities, organize evacuations, medical examination, and treatment, and prevent epidemics.
Immediately after the storm, Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee Pham Anh Tuan issued Official Dispatch No.11/CD-UBND requesting heads of agencies and units; Party Committee Secretaries, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of communes and wards affected by storm No.13 and floods to focus on leadership, direction, timely and synchronous implementation of solutions to overcome the consequences of natural disasters with the most urgent and drastic spirit, quickly stabilising people’s lives... Particularly for localities that are flooded or at risk of flooding and landslides, it is necessary to continue implementing evacuation plans, absolutely not allowing people to return to their old residences when safety has not been ensured, especially in areas at risk of deep flooding and landslides.
Do Duc Dung, a resident of Quy Nhon Dong ward, Gia Lai province, shared: “During natural disasters, we can see the close attention of the Party, the State, and especially the affection of the army and police. They come like blood relatives of the people”.
On November 7, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha visited the Forward Command Center in Gia Lai and visited the people of Xuan Loc commune, Dak Lak Province. The Deputy Prime Minister praised the vigilance and proactive response of the forces and people during storm No.13. The Deputy Prime Minister requested that no one be left without food, shelter, clean water, and electricity. Localities need to focus on restoring electricity and water, ensuring smooth traffic, and preventing epidemics after the storm; at the same time, conduct preliminary summaries, draw lessons, and re-evaluate areas at high risk of natural disasters to plan and arrange residents appropriately.
The Prime Minister has decided to support each province of Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Quang Ngai with 50 billion VND to urgently restore civil works and essential infrastructure. The Central Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front also supports each locality with 10 billion VND in the immediate future.
On November 7, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Official Dispatch No. 212/CD-TTg to the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Quang Ngai provinces; and relevant ministries and branches to direct the focus on overcoming the consequences of storm No.13. On behalf of the Party and State leaders, General Secretary To Lam, Prime Minister, sent his deepest condolences to the families of those who died or went missing, and shared the losses and difficulties of the people, the hardships of officers and soldiers in the disaster-hit areas; commended the Party Committee, the government, the political system, and the Forward Command Centre led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha for actively and effectively taking action to protect the property and lives of the people.
The Prime Minister requests Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Government agencies, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and cities (affected by storm No.13) to proactively direct and urgently implement necessary measures to quickly overcome the consequences of storm No.13, according to their functions, tasks, and powers; organise visits, encourage and implement policies to support families affected by storms and floods, especially families with dead or missing people, families with collapsed or severely damaged houses, poor households, and households in difficult circumstances; support people who have been evacuated to return home if safety is ensured; direct and guide localities to synchronously implement measures to overcome the consequences, restore agricultural production; quickly overcome landslides, and soon restore the operation of the North-South railway line...
