Floods submerge houses in central province of Quảng BÌnh last month. VNA/VNS Photo Đức Thọ

HÀ NỘI — The cost of the storms that hit central Việt Nam has emerged with 235 people dead or missing and an estimated economic loss of VNĐ17 trillion (US$733.4 million).

Since late September, a number of storms hit the region damaging hundreds of thousands of homes.

The figures were released in a Government report on disaster prevention and control in the central region reported to the National Assembly on November 2.

A number of key points were raised at the meeting of what government plan to do next to restore normality to the areas hit hardest.

It will mobilise all forces and equipment to find missing people, including those trapped by landslides at Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant construction site in Thừa Thiên-Huế, in Quảng Nam’s Nam Trà My and Phước Sơn districts and fishermen of Bình Định who are currently lost at sea.

The Government will focus on relief activities to help locals, especially those in far-flung areas, stabilise their lives; supporting them in house repairs and providing food and medicine as well as visiting and supporting families of the victims.

The Ministries, sectors and localities will quickly restore damaged infrastructure facilities, especially the power supply system, transport, dykes, schools and hospitals, while concentrating on environment sanitation, especially water for daily activities, to prevent diseases from breaking out.

Attention will also be paid to Storm Goni, which is forecast to hit the central region in the coming days, and actively evacuate people out of dangerous areas.

Long-term, the Government will direct the specific assessment and building of different climate change scenarios to have appropriate response solutions.

It will improve the quality of disaster forecasts and warnings, speed up the making of maps warning risks of landslides and flash floods, and add disaster prevention and response and consequence handling into development plans and strategies of each sector and locality.

The Government, ministries, sectors and localities will also prioritise allocating money in a mid-term public investment plan for 2021-2025 and annual central and local budget estimates for disaster prevention and control and search and rescue missions. — VNS