Severe heat in the North and Central regions, drought in the Central Highlands until the end of August

The heat is more intense than the average year.

This information was presented by Mr. Hoang Duc Cuong, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Hydrometeorology ( Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ) at the National Conference on Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue in 2024, on the morning of May 10.

According to Mr. Cuong, in January 2024, heat waves will only appear locally in the Southeast region. From February to now, there have been 3 widespread heat waves in the Southeast region from February 13-19; February 22-March 4 and especially from March 8 to the first 10 days of April 2024, the Southern region has continuously experienced widespread heat waves for a long time.

The National Conference on Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue in 2024 was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on the morning of May 10.

In the Northwest, North Central and Central Highlands regions, there will be days of localized heat waves, with the highest temperature during the day generally ranging from 35-37 degrees Celsius, with some places over 38 degrees Celsius; on March 5, in the North and Central Central regions, there will be widespread heat waves; on March 6, the heat waves will continue in the Central Central region with the highest temperature during the day generally ranging from 36-38 degrees Celsius, with some places over 39 degrees Celsius.

Notably, from March 31 to April 4, the Northwest, North Central and Central regions will experience widespread heat waves. Some places will experience severe heat waves and especially severe heat waves with the highest daily temperature commonly ranging from 36 - 39 degrees Celsius, and some places from 40 - 41 degrees Celsius.

Mr. Cuong forecasts that in the coming time, the heat wave will increase in intensity and gradually spread to other areas of the Northern region, the North Central region and the Central Central region. The heat wave in the Southern region will continue to last for many days in the region until about the first half of May. In the Northern and Central regions, the phenomenon of heat wave and severe heat wave is likely to appear more often in July and August compared to the average, so be careful of the occurrence of especially severe heat wave. The heat wave tends to gradually decrease from the second half of August in the Northern region and from September in the Central region.

Mr. Hoang Duc Cuong, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Hydrometeorology, forecasts that July and August this year will be hotter than average.

In the Central Highlands and the South, the drought will continue until the first half of May. In the Central region, the drought is likely to last until the end of August.

Regarding storms and tropical depressions, from now until the first half of June, there is little chance of them appearing in the East Sea. From the second half of June, there is a possibility of storms and tropical depressions in the East Sea. In 2024, it is forecasted that there will be about 11-13 storms in the East Sea and 5-7 storms affecting the mainland. Storm and tropical depression activities are likely to be concentrated in the second half of the storm season (from September to November 2024).

Improve forecast quality

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, in order to prevent, combat, respond to and minimize damage caused by natural disasters and incidents, in the coming time, it is necessary to focus on implementing key groups of tasks such as: Implementing legal documents and instructions of the Party, State and Government ; reviewing, supplementing and perfecting the system of legal documents on natural disaster prevention and control. Consulting on perfecting the organization and operation of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee, the Standing Office of the Civil Defense Steering Committee, the Civil Defense Steering Committees of ministries and local levels after the Decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Civil Defense is issued, ensuring continuous and effective operations, without interruption in directing and advising on response to natural disasters, incidents and epidemics. Improving the quality of forecasting, warning and monitoring and supervising natural disasters.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan spoke at the conference.

Organize, command, and effectively implement the response to major natural disasters. Report, summarize damages, propose emergency remedial measures, and provide medium- and long-term support. Strengthen inspection, supervision, and guidance on overcoming the consequences of natural disasters to ensure the right purpose, target, and effectiveness. Deploy the activities of Working Groups to inspect the use of the central budget reserve in 2023 to support localities in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and landslides, and report to the Prime Minister to decide on handling cases of allocation and use that are not within the right scope, target, or implementation that is not in accordance with the law. Apply science and technology and international cooperation. Information and communication, raise public awareness. Respond to natural disasters and search and rescue.

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that in 2023, there will be no storms making landfall in Vietnam, but there will be more uncertainties than before, with localized flooding, record heat, severe saltwater intrusion and landslides in the Mekong Delta. Overall, the response to natural disasters has been more effective. Forecast quality has improved. From the central to local levels, there have been proactive responses, reducing damage caused by natural disasters. This is a remarkable result.

The shortcomings that need to be noted are: Awareness of natural disasters is not uniform, there are still subjective cases. Inspection, supervision and urging are not done well in some places. Some legal regulations are not clear, there are overlaps. On a national level, the resilience of infrastructure is still inadequate.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang concluded the conference on the morning of May 10.

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that in 2024, it is necessary to complete the apparatus according to the Law on Civil Defense, which will take effect from July 1, 2024. Quickly develop a decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Civil Defense to ensure effectiveness. Continue to perfect legal documents, including a number of policy mechanisms that need to be renewed. Promote communication and information to raise awareness of everyone, first of all, officials performing tasks, then the people, in a more reasonable and effective form. Strengthen inspection and supervision work, especially before the rainy season; regularly review disaster prevention scenarios.

Hydrometeorological forecasting agencies and related sectors should improve the quality of timely and accurate forecasts. Enhance the management capacity of each ministry, sector and locality. Mobilize investment resources to share with those affected by incidents and damages.

The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his hope that international organizations would increase the exchange of information and experience in forecasting work; pay attention to supporting investment in equipment and aid for Vietnam's natural disaster prevention work...

Source: https://danviet.vn/nang-nong-gay-gat-o-bac-bo-va-trung-bo-tay-nguyen-kho-han-den-het-thang-8-20240510143102882.htm