Proactive flood prevention and control in mountainous areas.

In 2025, natural disasters in the province caused approximately 1,550 billion VND in damage, significantly impacting production, people's lives, and socio-economic development. The most severe consequences were primarily caused by floods in the mountainous areas. Proactively developing response measures, intensifying public awareness campaigns, and improving people's understanding are the most specific and effective solutions to mitigate flood damage.

Leaders of Minh Dai commune inspect and direct efforts to mitigate the consequences of a landslide in 2025.

Over the past year, the province experienced 13 widespread heavy rainfall events (including 2 events reaching disaster risk levels I and II); the total rainfall in the province was generally higher than the multi-year average, ranging from 1,850 to 2,850 mm. The heavy rains caused floods and landslides at 1,428 locations along roads, over 17,000 meters of riverbanks and streams, and numerous points of hill and mountain slopes.

There are many causes of flash floods, landslides, and mudslides. Mountainous and highland areas often have steep slopes, heavily dissected surfaces, thin land cover, and loose riverbanks, making them highly susceptible to landslides during heavy rains. Furthermore, rainfall in these areas is often unevenly distributed in time and space, with concentrated, high-intensity rain over short periods. This leads to sudden water surges, strong currents, and immense destructive power, causing flash floods, mudslides, and landslides that sweep away houses and structures, erode soil, and bury farmland.

In recent years, increased food and commodity production on sloping land, coupled with slash-and-burn farming, has reduced forest cover, especially in upstream areas. This facilitates faster water concentration and simultaneously causes surface erosion and disrupts ecological balance, leading to landslides. Furthermore, the increasing number of transportation infrastructure projects, involving leveling mountains, constructing underground tunnels, and building bridges and culverts, narrows drainage channels and obstructs water flow. Unregulated mineral exploitation, including the frequent felling of trees, excavation, and dumping of waste down slopes, also increases the risk of flash floods, landslides, and mudslides.

To ensure effective disaster prevention and control, and to minimize damage caused by floods and heavy rains, the Provincial People's Committee has focused on developing disaster prevention and control and search and rescue plans since the beginning of the year. This includes directing highland communes to prioritize the prevention and mitigation of flash floods, landslides, and mudslides as a central and continuous focus. Localities in areas warned of the risk of flash floods, landslides, and mudslides annually review and develop plans and methods for evacuating residents living in high-risk areas, as well as response and mitigation plans. Accordingly, based on an analysis of the characteristics, topography, climate, and weather, and the impacts of past natural disasters in the area, as well as key areas prone to or affected by flash floods and landslides, they proactively develop scenarios and implement timely and effective response measures to minimize damage. At the same time, irrigation companies have also assigned irrigation enterprises to coordinate with communes that have reservoirs, culverts, and spillways to regularly monitor, maintain, and repair them... to prevent incidents from occurring.

Comrade Hoang Anh Nghia - Chairman of the Minh Dai Commune People's Committee, said: To minimize damage caused by natural disasters, especially flash floods and landslides, the Commune People's Committee is strengthening communication and disseminating knowledge and skills for prevention and mitigation to the local people. At the same time, they regularly update weather information and prevention methods on the local official website, and require areas to share information and developments of natural disasters on Zalo and Facebook groups... In the long term, it is necessary to actively plant and protect forests, create a green ecosystem, change the geological structure, and minimize the risk of flash floods, landslides, and mudslides.

Flash floods, landslides, and mudslides often occur at night with great intensity and in a very short time, so the consequences are usually very serious. Therefore, people need to proactively monitor the weather situation and signs of landslides closely to protect their lives and property.

Quan Lam

Source: https://baophutho.vn/chu-dong-phong-nbsp-chong-lu-o-vung-cao-253393.htm