Flood relief efforts have been made in the capital city of Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)
Flood relief efforts have been made in the capital city of Hanoi and the northern provinces of Hoa Binh and Lao Cai after days of downpours which claimed many lives and caused critical damage to local property.
As of July 31, natural calamities left 193 people dead, missing and injured. Nearly 930 houses collapsed, 27,819 were damaged and had roofs blown off, and 19,822 others were submerged.
Disasters destroyed more than 195,000 hectares of rice, fruit and industrial trees, as well as devastated over 8,300 hectares of aquatic farming, according to report from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control’s office.
Hanoi and Hoa Binh province are badly flooded localities. Over 3,680 houses in the capital have been flooded, thousand hectares of crops have been damaged, and nearly 56,000 head of cattle and poultry have been dead and missing.
The Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Hanoi city has mobilised all resources to reinforce Bui dyke to ensure safety for local people and assets.
Particularly, erosions along Da River banks in Hoa Binh province on July 30-31 resulted in the collapse of 19 houses. There was a large crack with 40 centimetres in depth, and 100 metres in length on the provincial road 445.
Inspecting the erosion situation in hamlet 26, Dong Tien ward, Hoa Binh city on July 31, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung ordered relevant forces to ensure safety for locals while the provincial authority was asked to focus on stabilising local livelihoods.
The same day, a working group from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control led by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and head of the committee Nguyen Xuan Cuong inspected and instructed repairs to the subsidence on the provincial road in Dan Ha commune, Ky Son district.
To date, Hoa Binh province has evacuated 35 households near the erosion area to safer places. As many as 140 families in Da Bac and Cao Phong districts have been moved out of areas which are prone to landslides.
In addition, landslides with an amount of 15,000 cubic metres of land and rock have buckled the provincial road 279 in Bao Ha commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province. The locality was rushing off its feet to recover the incident and the road is expected to re-open to traffic on August 1.
The localities are requested to keep close watch on the weather developments to give timely warnings to authorities at all levels. Measures in response to floods must be drawn up to ensure safety for dykes and reservoirs.
Reserves of food, water, medicine as well as other essential items must be prioritied, while rescue forces and vehicles are required to stand ready to give support in urgent cases.
VNA
