Localities have also evacuated residents in the areas prone to natural disasters, closed schools and visited families of victims. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Over the past days, great efforts have been made to dealwith consequences of torrential rains and floods in line with instructions ofPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Central Steering Committee for NaturalDisaster Prevention and Control.
Asof 9pm on October 15, heavy rains and floods destroyed 649 houses and submerged150,685 others, and damaged 168 National Highway sites and 33,639 metres of roads.
Upto 900ha of rice and 5,514ha of other crops have been inundated, and 3,978ha ofaquatic farms have been damaged. Some 445,700 heads of poultry and animals havebeen swept away or killed by floodwater.
Thesame day, PM Phuc issued a dispatch instructing the rescue operations andsettlement of consequences of landslides at ranger station 67 and Rao Trang 3hydropower plant in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
DeputyPrime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, head of the Committee, and Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, deputy head of the Committee, hadfield trips to the locality to oversee the work.
TheCommittee has also sent two working groups to localities from Thanh Hoa toQuang Ngai to monitor natural disaster prevention and control there.
Asof 7:30pm on October 15, bodies of all 13 rescue team members buried in thelandslide at ranger station 67, and a construction worker at Rao Trang 3hydropower plant in Phong Xuan commune, Phong Dien district, had been retrieved.
The rescue teamincluded Major General Nguyen Van Man, Deputy Commander of Military Region 4,and Chairman of the Phong Dien district People's Committee Nguyen Van Binh.
TheNational Committee for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, and militaryunits deployed 9,607 people to join hands with local forces in these attempts.
Localitieshave also evacuated residents in the areas prone to natural disasters, closedschools and visited families of victims.
TheCentral Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control hasasked northern cities and provinces to keep a close eye on flood developments,and managed reservoirs, especially Son La, Hoa Binh, Thac Ba and Tuyen Quang.
Meanwhile,central localities need to continue with search and rescue operations, helpvictims with food, clean water and housing, and evaluate losses caused bynatural disasters, the Committee said.
Ithas also ordered intensifying communications to provide updates on developmentsof rains and foods, and guide local residents to take countermeasures.
Thecentral provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam havecalled for the support of food, medicines, disinfectants, and rescueequipment./.
VNA
