'3 in advance, 4 on the spot' for natural disaster prevention

Ba Che district (Quang Ninh province) is one of the localities that is often directly affected when natural disasters and floods occur. Mr. Do Manh Hung, the Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee and the Chairman of Ba Che District People's Committee, said that natural disaster prevention is a key task throughout. Right from the beginning of the year, the district asked the authorities of communes, towns, and local functional units to strengthen the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue.

"Localities and units must organize inspections and reviews of points at risk of being affected by storms, floods, and landslides; also proactively develop response plans that closely match the actual situation and schedule command duty, mobile duty, and list of mobilized rescue forces, with their phone numbers sent to the District Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue for proactive management. In particular, in key areas, materials, equipment and logistics must always be ready according to the motto '4 on the spot' ", Mr. Hung emphasized.

Along with Ba Che district, with complex midland and mountainous terrain, a dyke system more than 46km long, divided by rivers and streams, Dong Trieu town always has a potential risk of floods, landslides and waterlogging.

With the motto "3 in advance, 4 on the spot", localities ensure reserves of natural disaster prevention materials from towns to grassroots; as well as inform and propagate to the people and ensure the review and repair of irrigation works and flood drains. Moreover, they also check and prune trees that are at risk of breaking or falling during the stormy season.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Dan, the Vice Chairman of Dong Trieu Town People's Committee, said that in order to do that, it is necessary to build a rescue force strong enough to perform rescue, standing, patrolling, and managing flood and storm prevention works in each specific area.

At mine waste dumps in Cam Pha City, local authorities coordinate with Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industry Group (TKV) and Dong Bac Corporation to proactively take measures, inspect, review, and develop plans to prevent local landslides and flooding to ensure absolute safety for people and structures at the foot of mine waste dumps.

Mr. Pham Van Kinh, the Vice Chairman of Cam Pha City People's Committee, said that the city is reviewing and inspecting key areas and areas with high potential risks of unsafety, and supplemented coordination plans before the rainy and stormy season.

In particular, the city continue to propagate, thoroughly grasp and raise awareness of compliance with laws on natural disaster prevention, mitigation of damage caused by natural disasters and protection of the ecological environment, they also prepare supplies, equipment, vehicles, and rescue forces to promptly respond when storms or floods occur. Take the motto "3 in advance, 4 on the spot" to direct and deploy prevention, rescue, and remediation.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the entire Quang Ninh province currently has 397km of dikes, including 33km of level III dikes, 134km of level IV dikes and 230km of level V dikes. The province's dyke system is capable of withstanding level 9 storms. If the tide frequency is 10%, this is a relatively high level of assurance compared to the whole country. In the entire province, there are 176 lakes and dams operating to provide irrigation and domestic water for people, and the useful capacity of the reservoirs is over 315 million m3.

The province has approved a plan for key areas for natural disaster prevention in the area, including 5 areas: Ha Nam dike area, Quang Yen; landslide residential areas, flash flood areas; residential areas and ships operating on Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long and Quang Ninh waters; dike area on the left of Kinh Thay and Dong Trieu rivers; Yen Lap reservoir area.

Quang Ninh province has 66 natural locations with favorable conditions for ships to anchor and take shelter, with an area of about 16km2. This is a necessary condition to be proactive and minimize the impacts caused by natural disasters, especially during the rainy and stormy season.