The conference was held in person at the Government Headquarters and online to 26 northern provinces and cities from Thanh Hoa and beyond.
Attending the conference were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government agencies; leaders of provinces and centrally run cities.
In his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that the conference was held to summarize, make initial assessments, and draw lessons from the work of preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3 and post-storm floods; assigned the Government Office to receive opinions and issue a notice concluding the conference in a concise manner, clearly assigning people, tasks, responsibilities, time, and products.
Minimize possible damage
Assessing storm No. 3, the Prime Minister emphasized a number of characteristics: The storm continuously increased in intensity very quickly (from level 8 to level 16, gusting to level 17 in 48 hours); the storm lasted for many hours on land; the storm circulation caused heavy rain and floods, affecting 26 provinces and cities, affecting a wide area and many subjects; causing serious spiritual and material consequences for the people and the country; the recovery was costly, lasting for many years and there were irreparable losses, such as the loss of life and missing people; the mental trauma of a part of the people was still lasting and the consequences were unpredictable.
The Prime Minister assessed that the warning and forecasting work was basically good, close to the situation, early and from afar, but there were still errors such as not being able to predict early the storm with gusts of level 17 when it reached the shore and lasted inland; the storm circulation, heavy rain lasting over a large area, up to 700 mm in some places; the forecast of water volume in dams, lakes and large rivers was not close to reality. The reason was that equipment was limited and investment in forecasting work was not commensurate.
In general , the work of propaganda and information to the people is done well by agencies and the press with creative methods, at the highest possible level, suitable to the unusual situation; in addition to information about the situation, there is also guidance on skills and ways to respond to natural disasters.
The leadership and direction were consistent, timely, resolute, unified, and transparent from top to bottom. Chaired by General Secretary and President To Lam, the Politburo met to listen to reports on the situation and give directions on response and overcoming consequences; and assigned Party and State leaders to directly inspect, urge, direct, and visit forces and people.
The Prime Minister has issued 11 official dispatches, deployed working delegations to key areas to inspect, urge and direct storm and flood prevention and control work; established a forward command committee in Hai Phong...
Ministries, branches, party committees, authorities at all levels, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have issued 51 telegrams and documents, the Ministries of National Defense, Public Security, Transport, Education and Training, Health, Industry and Trade, etc. have issued telegrams and deployed working groups. Localities have issued 356 telegrams and organized 146 working groups to go directly to the scene to direct response and overcome the consequences of storms and floods.
The active and timely prevention work has mobilized the entire political system, forces and the entire population to participate, promoting the "4 on-the-spot" strategy. The military and police forces have mobilized nearly 300,000 officers, soldiers, militia and self-defense forces along with vehicles to support people in responding to and overcoming the consequences of storms and floods.
Authorities promptly informed and guided over 51,000 ships and vehicles operating at sea to avoid storms; deployed over 180 million text messages to provide storm and flood information to people; organized the evacuation and relocation of over 173,000 people on cages, rafts, aquaculture watchtowers and dangerous areas to safety.
In particular, people have voluntarily, proactively and very actively responded to storms and floods.
However, the damage caused by storm No. 3 and the floods after the storm is still very large . According to initial statistics from the authorities, as of September 26, 2024, storms and floods have killed and left 344 people missing, nearly 2,000 people injured; over 260,000 houses, 1,900 schools had their roofs blown off, damaged, collapsed, and swept away by floods; a series of energy, telecommunications, transportation, irrigation, and dike infrastructure projects had incidents; nearly 350,000 hectares of rice, crops, and fruit trees were flooded and damaged; 8,100 cages and rafts, 31,000 hectares of aquaculture were damaged; over 4.5 million livestock and poultry died; hundreds of hectares of agricultural land were silted up, destroyed by water... greatly affecting production, business, and people's lives.
The work of overcoming the consequences of storms and floods has been carried out very drastically and promptly with the strong leadership, direction, and focus of the entire political system from the central to the grassroots levels, along with the support and assistance of organizations, individuals, philanthropists, and the efforts of people and businesses to overcome difficulties. Through this, we see the spirit of great national unity, national love, compatriotism, mutual love, mutual affection, "the whole leaf covers the torn leaf, the less torn leaf covers the more torn leaf" clearly demonstrated.
To date, the Prime Minister has directed the provision of over 400 tons of rice, 350 billion VND and many rescue equipment, medical supplies and other necessities to promptly support localities in providing relief to people. The Fatherland Front and the Vietnam Red Cross Society have mobilized and received cash and in-kind donations worth over 1,760 billion VND. International organizations and countries have provided cash and goods worth over 22 million USD.
In many localities across the country, many organizations and individuals have provided direct support to localities and people affected by natural disasters to overcome difficulties. Local Party committees and authorities have implemented synchronously and drastically, mobilizing the entire local political system to overcome the consequences of natural disasters.
Put people's health and lives first and foremost
The Prime Minister generally assessed that the work of forecasting, warning, information and communication, leadership, direction, prevention and overcoming the consequences of the storm were done relatively well and minimized possible damage, especially human loss.
This is the effort of our entire Party, army and people. Besides, there are things that have not been done due to various subjective and objective reasons, but objective reasons are the main ones.
The Prime Minister emphasized five important lessons:
First, forecasts and warnings must be timely, accurate, and from afar.
Second, leaders and directors must closely follow the situation, be resolute, decisive, dare to take responsibility, have a focus, all for the benefit of the nation, people, and country.
Third, put the goal of protecting the lives, health, and property of the people and the state above all else, first of all to mobilize all resources of society and the state, especially the 4 on-site motto for prevention and overcoming consequences.
Fourth, sectors and levels must base on the functions, tasks, powers and directions of superiors and the actual situation to proactively and actively implement tasks and solutions.
Fifth, attach importance to information and communication work on the actual situation and guidance and dissemination of skills to respond to, prevent, and overcome the consequences of storms and floods.
The Prime Minister gave an example of ensuring the safety of Thac Ba dam. The agencies made important decisions to both divert floodwaters upstream, prepare plans to destroy auxiliary dams in the midstream, evacuate people downstream, and be ready to respond to the worst-case scenario, choosing the best option among possible options to minimize damage.
Similarly, to ensure the safety of Hoang Long dike (Ninh Binh), it is necessary to stop the operation of Hoa Binh hydropower plant and increase the operation of Son La and Lai Chau hydropower plants.
The Central and Southern regions compensate for the North.
In the coming time, the Prime Minister emphasized that the goal is still to ensure that no one is left without food, clothing, hunger, cold, or shelter; that students go to school early, and patients receive medical treatment; that people's situation is quickly stabilized, production and business are restored, economic growth is actively promoted, and inflation is well controlled.
Regarding tasks and solutions, the Prime Minister requested ministries, branches and localities to urgently and seriously implement the Prime Minister's instructions in the Official Dispatches and 6 groups of solutions in Resolution No. 143/NQ-CP dated September 17, 2024 of the Government.
The Prime Minister called for promoting the spirit of “each person doing the work of two”; unaffected areas such as the Central region, the Central Highlands, and the South to compensate for areas in the North affected by storms and floods, striving for higher growth and higher socio-economic development results; just as when the Central region suffered from storms and floods, the North and the South compensated for the Central region, previously during the war, everyone worked for the beloved South. Continue to strive and make efforts to complete the tasks and goals of 2024, 2025, and the entire term.
Emphasizing some additional tasks, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance to review and propose funding to support localities from the reserve budget, ensuring appropriateness and fairness among localities. Agencies and units continue to review and repair infrastructure of transportation, electricity, water, and telecommunications.
The Ministry of Justice and relevant ministries will review and improve institutions, specifically decrees and circulars with outdated regulations that are no longer suitable for overcoming the consequences of storms and floods, to be completed by October 2024. The Ministry of National Defense and relevant agencies will improve organizations and human resources according to the Law on Civil Defense.
For families who lost their homes and had to rebuild them, relevant localities, ministries and sectors must complete the construction by December 31, 2024 with hard walls, hard floors and hard roofs. On this occasion, the Prime Minister commended the agencies, units and localities for quickly implementing the construction of resettlement areas for households in Nu village, Bao Yen district and Nam Tong village, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province...
The Prime Minister requested to complete the repair of schools, hospitals, and clinics by October 2024. If there are any missing mechanisms and policies, the Government should be proposed. Review and fully implement policies for affected subjects.
Along with that, review, summarize, propose emulation and rewards for those who sacrificed, collectives and individuals who did well, and advanced models, no later than October 2024; handle collectives and individuals who did not do well, did not complete their tasks, or even violated the law.
Ministries, branches and localities propose state management tasks, review, evaluate and have long-term programs and projects to prevent landslides and natural disasters.
Regarding the collapsed Phong Chau bridge, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Phu Tho province to complete the reconstruction by 2025 at the latest. If mechanisms and policies are needed, they must be reported to the Government.
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