Improving disaster prevention and response skills in the community

room - husband 2 — Pig farm in An Khanh commune repairs barns after typhoon Yagi (2024).

Learn from the unpredictable dangers of weather

According to the forecast of the National Center for Hydrometeorology, the weather in 2025 in Vietnam tends to fluctuate strongly and abnormally due to the influence of the neutral ENSO phenomenon. Not only affecting the rainy and stormy season, the ENSO phenomenon also makes the boundaries between seasons become blurred. Rain can appear in the middle of the dry season, while prolonged heat waves alternate between heavy rains. This year's storm season also shows many unusual signs. Although the number of storms is forecast to be at the average level of many years, it is worrying that the number of storms of level 12 or higher may be more than normal.

Although climate change and unusual weather are always warned early by hydrometeorological stations and authorities, in reality, when responding to some major natural disasters, the community and producers are often confused.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, an agricultural technician at ChaPi Farm, recalled that when Typhoon Yagi was about to strike, the farm was proactive in preparing for the storm, but in reality, they were still complacent because they did not expect the storm to be so big and cause such great damage. After the storm, the entire greenhouse collapsed, and farm staff had to spend a lot of time clearing the rubble and restoring production. According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the estimated damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in 2024 to agriculture in the Eastern Hai Phong area was up to 4,881 billion VND.

Or in the West Hai Phong area, many cage fish farmers were also surprised by the situation of super typhoon Yagi, especially the circulation after the storm caused serious flooding in many aquaculture areas. Cage fish farmers alone lost hundreds of tons of fish. Along with that, in key agricultural communes in the West Hai Phong area, right at the time when the rice was standing and forming ears, 10,000 hectares of rice were destroyed, about 1,200 hectares of vegetables were crushed, more than 600 hectares of fruit trees were broken...

According to Deputy Head of Disaster Prevention (Department of Water Resources Management and Disaster Prevention) Dinh Xuan Thanh, the cause of the above situation is that some localities and units are still subjective in the face of major natural disasters; disaster prevention and control skills have not been widely disseminated in the community. Many people still expect storm prevention and control to be done by functional agencies and local authorities. Disaster prevention and control infrastructure is not yet capable of withstanding natural disasters, so it is susceptible to incidents and damage. Some localities and units have disaster prevention and control plans, but they are formal and not close to reality, leading to passivity in directing response to specific natural disaster situations. Mobilizing materials, human resources, and means according to the "four on-the-spot" motto is difficult...

Farmers in the dragon fruit growing area overcome the consequences of typhoon Yagi (2024).

Prevent and combat natural disasters early and from afar

After some unexpected damages caused by climate change and extreme weather, people have gradually formed a proactive awareness in preventing and combating natural disasters early and from afar, especially for farmers, production facilities, businesses, and agricultural production cooperatives.

Director of Nam Viet Cooperative Pham Van Quyen said that from the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in 2024, in 2025, when warned of Typhoon No. 3, the cooperative took down all the net house frames before the storm to avoid damage. In some gardens growing melons and high-tech vegetables, farmers also proactively harvested all products; closed down greenhouses and net houses. After the storm passed, people continued to hire workers to rebuild the net houses. Some farmers said that proactively taking down the net houses before the storm and then rebuilding them after the storm took a lot of effort and money, but it was more practical because if a big storm damaged all the net houses, it would be a total loss.

In some localities, witnessing the damage caused by natural disasters and especially "experiencing" the impact of Typhoon Yagi in 2024, in this year's storm season, Party committees and authorities at all levels paid special attention to this task. The entire political system and the community proactively prevented and responded promptly. For example, Typhoon No. 3 in 2025 caused the river water in the Cau Khue area to rise, posing a risk of flooding, affecting people's lives and production. Chairman of the People's Committee of An Hung Commune Nguyen Duc Trung directed forces to respond to this situation. The commune provided funds to purchase materials for storm and flood prevention. Departments, branches, organizations, and local people joined hands to use sandbags to block the road leading to the foot of Khue Bridge to prevent water from overflowing into residential areas and traffic routes...

To improve the effectiveness of natural disaster prevention and control, Mr. Pham Duc Duyen, Head of the Department of Water Resources Management and Natural Disaster Prevention, emphasized the need for propaganda, training, and drills to raise awareness and skills of natural disaster prevention and control for the community. In reality, if only the authorities and local governments participate, while the community remains on the sidelines, natural disaster prevention and control work will be difficult to achieve effectiveness. Along with that, it is necessary to integrate the content of natural disaster prevention and control into socio-economic development programs and plans of localities and functional sectors. Localities need to invest in and upgrade infrastructure for natural disaster prevention and control, combine the application of science and technology, especially forecasting and early warning...

HUONG AN

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/nang-cao-ky-nang-phong-chong-thien-tai-trong-cong-dong-520307.html