Prime Minister: Urgently overcome the consequences of storm No. 3 and respond to storm circulation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directed Party committees, authorities at all levels and relevant sectors to proactively and actively overcome the consequences of storm No. 3 according to their functions, tasks and authority.

The Prime Minister chaired a conference to assess damage and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

On the morning of September 8, chairing an online conference to assess the response direction, damage situation and implementation of urgent measures to overcome the consequences of storm No. 3, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on people, businesses, agencies and localities that did not suffer damage to support people, businesses, agencies and localities that suffered damage and were affected by storm No. 3, in the spirit of "the whole leaves cover the torn leaves, the torn leaves cover the more torn leaves."

Storm No. 3 is the strongest storm in the past 30 years in the East Sea. Updated to the morning of September 8, Storm No. 3 killed 9 people, injured 187 people; 25 small cement and wooden ships sank at their anchorage; 3,279 houses were damaged; 401 electric poles were broken; many shops, offices, and schools had their roofs blown off or damaged; many advertising signs and telecommunication poles were broken, urban trees were uprooted or broken; 121,500 hectares of rice and crops were flooded and damaged; 5,027 hectares of fruit trees were damaged; over 1,000 aquaculture cages were damaged and swept away...

It is forecasted that from September 8-9, the circulation after storm No. 3 will cause heavy rains in the entire plains, midlands and mountainous areas of the North, with an average 24-hour rainfall of up to 100-150mm, and in some places over 200mm. There is a high risk of flooding on rivers and streams, flash floods and landslides in some localities.

The conference focused on assessing forecasting, warning, and information work; direction and response preparation work; organization of flood and storm prevention and control; forecasting the next developments and support work, mobilizing people to join hands to help overcome damage.

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan who was present at the Quang Ninh bridge and the leaders of Quang Ninh province, storm No. 3 has caused great damage to people and property in the province; in which, the whole province lost power, information and communication. Quang Ninh province is actively organizing to overcome the consequences but facing many difficulties.

Therefore, Quang Ninh needs the cooperation of all sectors, first of all, to support the province in restoring electricity and telecommunications; and dispatching naval ships and helicopters to search and rescue those who are missing or trapped on ships and structures at sea.

In the long term, it is necessary to calculate and design structures and plans that can withstand storms above level 12 to minimize damage when similar storms make landfall.

Hai Phong City Party Secretary Le Tien Chau said that Hai Phong is one of the key localities hit by storm No. 3, but the damage was not too great because it strictly followed the Prime Minister's instructions, including setting up a forward command post and the Deputy Prime Minister directly going to the area to direct storm prevention and control work; requested the Electricity and Telecommunications sectors to support human resources and materials to overcome the widespread power outage and telecommunications network loss in the city, to more effectively implement the work of overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3.

Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh said that thanks to the proactive implementation of the Prime Minister's instructions, the damage to people and property caused by storm No. 3 in the area was minimized. The most significant damage in the city was that more than 17,000 trees were broken and felled, causing traffic jams and local power outages in some districts, communes and wards, affecting people's lives and the operation of drainage pumping stations.

Up to now, the city has directed and mobilized all forces and people to clear fallen trees to ensure smooth traffic; overcome power outages, and ensure electricity for daily life and production to return to normal.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that storm No. 3 affected the power transmission system, forcing the Electricity sector to completely or partially stop 10 power plants in the North, affecting about 1 million customers. The Electricity sector has reviewed and fixed the problem to restore power supply to serve production and consumption, but currently 63% of the load is still not supplied with electricity because the grid infrastructure is not qualified.

Regarding consumer goods, the people's needs are basically met. However, in some urban areas, such as Hanoi and Hai Phong, there is a local shortage of goods due to people's hoarding mentality. The supply of goods has stabilized again.

Viettel Military Telecommunications Group General Director Tao Duc Thang said that due to the impact of storm No. 3, the Group lost connection at 8,000/26,000 BTS stations in 15 provinces and cities. The Group has mobilized human resources and means to fix the problem, but the fix is somewhat difficult due to traffic difficulties for the forces and means of moving to BTS stations, along with the power supply to BTS stations.

The leader of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group said that due to storm No. 3, the damage was not large, of which 15% of the coverage area and some internet fiber optic cables. As of the morning of September 8, the internet fiber optic cables still had 2 isolated provinces and cities (Cat Ba - Hai Phong; Binh Lieu, Ba Che - Quang Ninh) and would be repaired on September 8. Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group strives to completely restore mobile and internet signals within 4-5 days.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh speaks. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

After the Deputy Prime Ministers gave their opinions on urgent measures to overcome the consequences of storm No. 3, and at the same time prevent and combat the effects of rain, floods, and landslides caused by the storm's circulation, concluding the Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that storm No. 3 is the fastest and strongest storm in the past 30 years, increasing in intensity irregularly, lasting for a long time, and occurring over a large area.

Faced with that situation, all levels, sectors and localities have been proactive, active and determined in preventing and fighting the storm. However, with complicated developments, storm No. 3 has caused great damage to people and property.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the condolences of General Secretary and President To Lam and other Party and State leaders to families, agencies, units and localities suffering damage and loss of life and property caused by storm No. 3.

The Prime Minister commended the Flood and Storm Prevention Command Committees at all levels; Party committees and authorities at all levels; the Public Security and Military forces and relevant forces, ministries and branches for concentrating their forces with localities and people to prevent, combat and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3.

In particular, specialized agencies related to electricity, telecommunications, water, health, etc. strictly implement the Prime Minister's dispatches to ensure the best supply and overcome consequences to ensure essential needs.

The Prime Minister thanked the people and businesses for basically complying with the direction and leadership of competent authorities; following the instructions of specialized agencies; voluntarily participating in storm prevention and control, and supporting each other to overcome the consequences caused by the storm.

The Prime Minister said that immediately after this Conference, the Prime Minister will go to Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city; Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh will go to the coastal provinces of the Red River Delta; Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc will go to the northern mountainous provinces, and Deputy Prime Ministers Le Thanh Long and Bui Thanh Son will go to the remaining localities to direct the work of overcoming the consequences of storm No. 3.

Pointing out lessons learned in leadership, direction; mobilization of forces; organization of implementation; information, communication; commendation and discipline work, etc., the Prime Minister requested that sectors and localities focus on reviewing the number of people who died, were injured, and went missing to rescue and support funeral arrangements; reviewing families with material losses to provide support, so that no one would lack food, clothing, shelter, or a place to rely on; so that no student would lack classes or schools; so that no patient would lack medicine or a place to be treated; focus on overcoming incidents of electricity, water, telecommunications, and essential services serving leadership, direction, production, and consumption; organize objective and accurate statistics of damage to have timely handling plans; focus on preventing, combating, and overcoming the consequences of floods, landslides, and subsidence caused by storm circulation.

The Ministries of Industry and Trade, Information and Communications, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and Construction shall strictly implement State management within their authority, and guide regulations, standards, and norms on overcoming consequences.

Ministries: National Defense, Public Security, rescue forces continue to be on duty to promptly respond and overcome consequences, especially after storms and floods, especially landslides, flash floods, subsidence, etc. Media agencies maintain and update regularly until the storms and floods are really over, especially instructing people on storm and flood prevention skills.

Ministries, branches and localities, based on the actual situation, handle reserve sources of finance, materials, food, etc., to serve the restoration of production and business, support people's lives; propose support from the Central Government for timely handling, ensure quick restoration of life and production, completed before 24 hours on September 8.

The Prime Minister called on people, organizations, businesses, agencies and localities that did not suffer damage to support people, organizations, businesses, agencies and localities that suffered damage and were affected, in the spirit of "having little help little, having much help much; having wealth help wealth, having merit help merit", "mutual love and affection", "the whole leaf covers the torn leaf, the torn leaf covers the more torn leaf"./.

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