Heavy rains wreak havoc up and down nation

Trấn Yên District of Yên Bái Province was badly affected by heavy rain from late Wednesday night, causing damage to  二0 houses and  八. 六ha of rice, with several roads flooded and some co妹妹unes isolated.

Heavy rain caused cracks on dykes of the Red River in the northern province of Hưng Yên.

Meanwhile, thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds in Phú Tân District of southern Cà Mau Province collapsed one house and unroofed four.

On Thursday evening, prolonged heavy rain submerged several roads in HCM City. The worst flooded area was Bình Thạnh District.

Facing widespread flooding, the city’s Flood Control Centre mobilised more than  五00 workers to drain the flooded roads, remove trash and open manholes for faster drainage.

The workers used a large-capacity pump system to support flooded areas and worked with the Fire Department to drain flooded basements.

To cope with heavy rains and overcome the consequences of natural disasters, the National Steering Co妹妹ittee on Disaster Prevention asked its sub-co妹妹ittees and local governments to set up measures to respond to rain, floods and landslides.

Provinces and cities must focus on overcoming consequences of natural disasters to re-stabilise people's lives.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting was told to provide prompt forecast reports.

Plan of natural disaster preparedness

Amid the extreme weather, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) signed a plan on implementing prevention, response and recovery from consequences of natural disasters.

The plan aims to promote preparedness for natural disasters and improve warning and forecast work, according to MoNRE deputy minister Lê Công Thành.

The plan will also perfect the monitoring system and improve the capacity of warning and forecasting to reach the advanced level of science and technology to ensure proactivity in prevention and response to natural disasters of all levels, sectors, organisations and people.

Under the plan, the MoNRE will focus on completing legal documents, mechanisms and policies on hydro-meteorological, water resources, and mineral geology forecasting and warning.

The MoNRE will intensify research and application of science and technology in hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning and natural disaster prevention and control to define the formation, basic characteristics and impacts of each type of natural disaster, forecast of trends and developments to propose solutions.

The ministry will also promote international co-operation in forecasting and natural disaster response. – VNS