At Binh Duong bridge point, attending were Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of Provincial Standing Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of departments, committees, branches and localities in the province.
Natural disasters are forecasted to have complicated and unusual developments
Speaking at the conference, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Le Minh Hoan affirmed that in 2021, with the participation of the entire political system, community, enterprises, especially the grassroots government, the NDPC had achieved many results, minimizing damage to people and property. The whole country had 12 storms and tropical depressions; 326 thunderstorms, whirlwinds and heavy rains; 170 floods, flash floods and landslides; 139 earthquakes; 403 points of dangerous landslides. Although it has decreased sharply compared to 2020, the whole country still had 108 people dead and missing due to natural disasters, economic losses of over 5,200 billion VND.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh chairs the conference
The Minister said that although natural disasters are not as intense and fierce as in 2020, they still developed complicatedly and abnormally in the first months of 2022 with unseasonal heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms on a large scale in late March and early April in central provinces; historic cold in late February in the Northern mountainous area; earthquakes increased in both intensity and frequency in Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province. In addition, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on NDPC activities.
Minister of MARD Le Minh Hoan speaks at the conference
Presenting a summary report at the conference, Deputy Minister of MARD Nguyen Hoang Hiep added that in the first months of 2022, natural disasters in our country have shown complicated and anomalous developments, typically, a severe and damaging cold wave lasting from February 19-24, 2022 in the Northern provinces, caused the temperature to drop deeply, in some places, the lowest temperature dropped below 0 degrees Celsius, like in Mau Son, the temperature was down to -1.4 degrees Celsius. This is the strongest cold front in 40 years compared to the same period. Especially, there was an unusually heavy rain and flood in the middle of the dry season, accompanied by thunderstorms and big waves from March 30 to April 02, 2022 in the provinces from Quang Binh to Khanh Hoa with a total rainfall of from 200-600 mm, in which there was a particularly heavy rain like at Khe Tre (Thua Thien Hue) 835 mm (the rain was a record in 60 years compared to the same period).
Overview of the conference at Binh Duong bridge point
According to the National Centre for Hydro - Meteorological Forecasting, in 2022 there is a possibility of unusually strong storms with about 10-12 storms and tropical depressions operating in the East Sea area. Rainfall in the year tends to increase nationwide, with a high probability of extreme rain.
Through the evolution of natural disasters from the beginning of the year until now, it can be seen that natural disasters in 2022 will continue to develop extremely complicated and unusual. The unusual weather was shown right in the irregular heavy rains in the middle of the dry season, accompanied by thunderstorms and big waves in the provinces from Quang Binh to Khanh Hoa from March 30 to April 02. Total damage caused by natural disasters so far this year is estimated at 2,400 billion VND (nearly half of economic losses caused by natural disasters in 2021).
Taking the initiative in NDPC solutions soon
In Binh Duong, the NDPC has received more and more attention from all levels, branches and communities, regulations and policies in the field of NDPC have been implemented deeply and widely to grassroots levels and all classes of people.
The propaganda to raise public awareness is carried out effectively; create the initiative and positivity of organizations, individuals and households in natural disaster prevention, avoidance and response. The formulation of plans, options and implementation organization, mobilization of forces and means according to the four on the spot motto has been seriously implemented and achieved high efficiency.
The inspection of irrigation works, NDPC to ensure safety before, during and after the storm season is fully and promptly implemented by the authorities and management units at all levels, handling critical and degraded locations, proactively repairing irrigation and NDPC works after each natural disaster, contributing to limiting the level of impact and damage caused by natural disasters. Support for natural disaster recovery and reconstruction in the province is generally timely and effective, helping people to soon stabilize their lives and production.
Provincial leaders inspect and survey the NDPC&SAR and planning of the port system on the Saigon River route
In 2021, the damage caused by natural disasters in Binh Duong province was mainly due to heavy rain, tornadoes and high tides. In which, tornadoes caused damage to houses and structures, and crop failures often occur during the changing seasons; heavy rains and high tides caused flooding of houses, rice, crops, and roads in the rainy season and the last months of the year. In the past year, there were 21 natural disasters that injured 03 people, damaged a total of 547 houses and works; broken, damaged 4,291ha of perennial trees, 56.6ha of concentrated fruit trees, etc.; estimated total value of property damage is about 54,664 billion VND.
The main weather situation of Binh Duong in 2022 is forecasted, there will be many unseasonal rains, especially since February, there have been consecutive rains on a large scale, causing the total rainfall in all places to exceed the average value of many years. The local heat has started appearing since January, but so far there has been no prolonged heat wave and the intensity of the heat is not too intense, the highest temperature so far this year is only 36.7 degrees Celsius (March 19).
The rainy season comes early in the area (about the last week of April), the total rainfall in April and May is generally 10-20% higher than the average of many years. In June-August 2022, the common rainfall total is 10-20% lower than the average of many years in the same period. It is estimated that in 2022, there will be about 10-12 storms and tropical depressions operating in the East Sea and about 4-6 storms that are likely to directly affect our country's mainland. Due to the influence of climate change, the rainy season, storm, flood, weather situation and hydrology will still be complicated; it is necessary to proactively prevent storms, floods, high tides, strong thunderstorms accompanied by tornadoes, lightning, etc. affecting the area of Binh Duong province.
After completion, the tidal sluice on Binh Nham canal (Thuan An city) will contribute to the prevention of flooding caused by high tides
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh highly appreciated the Ministries, branches, localities and forces for being active and proactive in NDPC, contributing to natural disaster reduction. It is forecasted that in 2022, there will be many storms and tropical depressions operating in the East Sea; in which, there are 5-7 storms that directly affect our country's mainland. Therefore, the Deputy Prime Minister directed agencies from the Central to local levels to prioritize investment in research on natural disasters such as: System of monitoring, observing and forecasting natural disasters, building and updating databases, and equipment in service of natural disaster prevention and control; at the same time, allocating budget to focus on completely handling emergency works to overcome consequences of natural disasters.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh speaks at the conference
Ministries, branches and People's Committees at all levels are responsible for ensuring resources and operating conditions for agencies and forces in charge of preventing, responding to and overcoming consequences of natural disasters at the same level, especially the shock force at the grassroots, etc.
"We need to strongly shift from passive response to proactive prevention, improve the quality of forecasting, warning and monitoring and supervision of natural disasters; strengthen the capacity to direct, command and administer the response, improve the rescue capacity, and ensure the safety of people's lives and properties. At the same time, continuing to promote communication and raise awareness; strengthening the application of science and technology, and international cooperation in NDPC and SAR", emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister.
Reported by Doan Trang- Translated by Thanh Tam