LookAtVietnam – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last night ordered localities to promptly handle natural disasters.

Farmers in Hai Lang district in Quang Tri province harvest rice to save it from the approaching storm. Heavy rains have already caused widespread flooding in the central region.

“Abnormal natural disasters resulting from climate change clearly affect our country,” Dung said.

“Ministries, sectors and localties are requested to watch for the progress of tropical lows, storms and floods, to prevent unnecessary deaths.”

The PM urged rescue teams to be sent to hard-hit provinces.

The tropical low that has hovered around the East Sea for a week has now been followed by Storm Mujigae, according to the Central Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control.

Heavy rains and floods caused seven deaths, six people are still missing and nine injured. Hundreds of billions of dong worth of damage has been reported.

The new storm is predicted to get stronger. Yesterday afternoon, September 10, its eye moved over the northern part of the East Sea, 440km from the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago. Gusts up to 74 km/hour have been recorded.

Today, it is predicted to be at 19.5 degrees north latitude and 109 degrees east longitude.

Winds emanating from the centre span a width of 300km.

The original low damaged thousands of houses and many schools and hospitals. Hundreds of kilometres of irrigation systems were also flooded.

Thousands of hectares of crops were destroyed and hundreds of tonnes of fish and shrimp killed by muddy and swirling floodwaters. Nearly 10 boats and barges have also been sunk, according to the committee.

Many roads and highways in the central provinces are still under water, including Highway 1A and Ho Chi Minh Highway.

In addition, dozens of communes in Quang Nam province have been isolated by water and washed out roads.

Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Dong Nai, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Quang Tri provinces have been the hardest hit.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecast said Storm Mujigae was expected to strengthen today and move east-northeast, causing rough seas off coastal Binh Thuan province to southernmost Ca Mau province.

Heavy rains are also likely in the highland and southern provinces.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat yesterday asked localities to check irrigation works and pump stations in readiness to regulate water in reservoirs if necessary.

This was to ensure the safety for thousands of people already stranded in flooded areas.

The Central Steering Committee has asked provincial sea border stations to maintain contact with offshore boats and keep supplying them with weather updates.

More than 22,400 offshore boats from Quang Ninh to Quang Ngai provinces have found safe shelter. However, three boats of Hai Phong City cannot be contacted.

Provinces have been told to make sure rescue teams are on duty 24 hours a day to evacuate people from areas in danger of landslides.

The Ministry of Health has sent an urgent message to its offices from Quang Ninh to Binh Dinh provinces, asking them to make sure there are enough medical supplies for an emergency.

Health stations have been placed on 24-hour duty. They have been told to be ready to move patients if the weather worsens.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News