Officers and soldiers of Roon Border Guard Station ( Quang Tri ) help people pull and move fishing boats ashore.

In the face of the situation of storm No. 5 (Kajiki) with very strong intensity (level 13-14, gusts of level 16 and likely to strengthen), high risk of natural disasters, complicated developments, which will directly affect the mainland of the central provinces, focusing on Nghe An, Ha Tinh and northern Quang Tri, the Prime Minister has established a Forward Steering Committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to respond urgently and effectively.

Before the storm hit, people in the central provinces had worked all night to harvest summer-autumn rice, and had tied down their houses and structures to guard against heavy rain and strong winds. Localities had mobilized the entire political system to participate in responding to natural disasters, especially in the context of implementing a two-tier local government model.

Special, dangerous storm

Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Mai Van Khiem assessed that storm No. 5 is a very special and dangerous storm, with a wide circulation, moving very fast, and potentially causing all three types of natural disasters: storm winds; heavy rain; flash floods and landslides. The intensity of the storm when it impacts may be equivalent to storm No. 3 (Yagi) last year and even stronger than storm No. 10 (Doksuri) in 2017, which caused heavy damage in the Ha Tinh area. Therefore, localities need to quickly finish bracing, reinforcing structures, harvesting crops and evacuating people before the night of August 24. People should not move on the streets when there are strong winds.

It is forecast that storm No. 5 will affect our mainland around noon today (August 25). Localities need to deploy measures to ensure the safety of bridge and port structures; coastal and sea tourism activities; and resolutely not let people stay on barges, fishing boats, cages, rafts, and watchtowers when the storm makes landfall. Currently, eight localities from Ninh Binh to Quang Ngai have issued a sea ban; local border guards have counted and guided nearly 60,000 vehicles, with nearly 249,000 people proactively avoiding the storm.

Provinces from Thanh Hoa to Hue have organized a review and implemented plans to evacuate people in dangerous areas to safe places, according to plan, evacuating more than 90,000 households, with nearly 325,600 people. The most worrying thing now is the dyke lines, which are only designed to withstand storms of level 9-10, storm No. 5 is strong at level 13-14, gusting at level 17, posing a serious risk of insecurity. According to the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the system of sea dykes and river dykes from Ninh Binh to Hue has 43 key and vulnerable locations.

On the afternoon of August 24, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep inspected and directed the response to storm No. 5 in Thanh Hoa province. At the anchorage and storm shelter area of ​​fishermen in Sam Son ward, all boats were brought ashore, and small vehicles were also moved further inland to ensure safety. Mr. Hiep requested that Thanh Hoa absolutely must not be subjective, proactively and fully deploy the "four on-site" plan to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

In Nghe An province, with the support of the armed forces, people urgently and basically completed the work of bracing and reinforcing houses and civil works by the late afternoon of August 24. Most of the houses and shops along the coast in Cua Lo ward have been firmly reinforced.

Mr. Tran Huu Duc, owner of a seafood restaurant, said that his house's corrugated iron roof was reinforced with more than 20 plastic bags filled with water to prevent the roof from being blown off.

According to Deputy Director of the Maritime Port Authority Nguyen Trung Thanh, all vessels in the port area have been mobilized out of Nghe An waters to avoid the storm. The EAGLE 01, which had been anchored for a long time, was refueled and moved to avoid the storm on the morning of August 24.

Lieutenant Colonel Tran Van The (Cua Lo-Ben Thuy Port Border Guard Station) said: By 12 noon on August 24, the border guards had called on more than 700 vehicles with more than 4,400 workers to safely anchor ashore; all of the province's more than 2,900 fishing boats avoided the danger zone. The provincial Border Guard mobilized 1,500 officers and soldiers along with dozens of vehicles of all kinds to be ready to respond to storms and floods; reinforced 1.5 km of sea dykes in Tan Minh and Tan Mai wards.

Mobilizing forces to help people fight the storm

In recent days, the authorities and people of Dan Hai commune (Ha Tinh) have been closely monitoring and continuously updating the developments of storm No. 5 to proactively prepare response plans. Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune Tran Quynh Thao said that in the area, there are 18.3 km of Huu Lam dike and Hoi Thong dike. Hoi Thong dike section K10+900-K11+500 is being eroded, with some sections 5-7m deep from the foot of the dike, causing insecurity.

Early in the morning of August 23, the locality mobilized three excavators, two trucks and more than 400 people, including forces using steel mesh and hundreds of sandbags and boulders to reinforce and prevent landslides. The commune government also organized the evacuation of more than 700 households, nearly 1,300 people to safe storm shelters.

According to statistics, as of 5:00 p.m. on August 24, Ha Tinh has evacuated more than 3,900 households/10,355 people to safe places, carefully arranging accommodation and living conditions.

According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Trach Commune, Duong Ngoc Hoang, the commune has nearly 550 hectares of grapefruit trees, with a harvest area of ​​470 hectares. The government has sent many working groups to urge people to protect grapefruit trees and Aquilaria trees; support and tie branches with fruit, and clear drainage ditches. Ha Tinh farmers are also doing their best, racing against time to harvest summer-autumn rice, and combine harvesters are being used at full capacity, day and night, to speed up the summer-autumn rice harvest for the people.

From the evening of August 23 to the morning of August 24, farmers in Quang Tri province hurriedly harvested rice all night, racing against time before storm No. 5 made landfall. During the night, many farmers rushed to the fields to harvest summer-autumn rice, many families mobilized all human resources and equipment to harvest rice, the atmosphere was very urgent. The whole province planted nearly 38,800 hectares, up to this point farmers have only harvested more than 2,500 hectares of rice. Currently, the province's sectors and localities are directing localities to harvest rice "running" from the storm for areas that can be harvested.

Mr. Hoang Trung Hao in Dai village, Bo Trach commune said that the rice has not yet fully ripened and still has to be harvested. The freshwater aquaculture pond in his family has not been harvested yet, and there is a risk of losing everything.

Since 7 a.m. on August 24, Quang Tri province has banned all boats from going out to sea. Provincial Party Secretary Le Ngoc Quang said that the Provincial Party Standing Committee has requested the mobilization of the entire political system to respond to storm No. 5, especially in the context of implementing a two-level local government model. The functional forces are proactive and flexible in responding, ready to evacuate people in low-lying, coastal and river mouth areas to safety.

On the evening of August 24, at the Government's Forward Command Center located at the Military Region 4 Command, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directly commanded the response to storm No. 5. At the meeting, Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Duc Trung said that the province has planned to evacuate people from 10 coastal communes with more than 10,000 households to safe places, ensuring essential necessities and food for people during the shelter period. In directing the storm response, the Prime Minister especially emphasized the spirit of "prevention is better than cure", it is necessary to have the highest level of plans to protect people's lives, and be ready to activate effective response plans.

According to nhandan.vn

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/theo-dong-thoi-su/mien-trung-doc-toan-luc-ung-pho-bao-so-5-157070.html