HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has requested the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting to provide the most correct and timely forecasts to help localities and people effectively carry out preventive measures against storm Dianmu.

The storm, the third of this year, is due to hit the northern region from Quảng Ninh to Thanh Hóa provinces today.

During his visit yesterday, PM Phúc asked the centre to expand international co-operation and collect different forecast resources from other countries like the US, Japan and China to improve the accuracy of its service.

All meetings at both central and local levels should be halted from today to focus on dealing with the storm to protect lives and assets, he said, which will require preparations for the evacuation of residents and the shoring up of breached dykes in coastal localities.

The Government leader asked ministries, agencies and localities to carry out measures to counter flooding and landslides to protect people’s lives – the most important target in disaster prevention and control.

They were also requested to avoid complacency and have plans on food, medicine and environmental sanitation when the storm is over.

Yesterday, Deputy PM Vương Đình Huệ visited the northern port city of Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh Province, Deputy PM Trịnh Đình Dũng toured northern Nam Định and Thái Bình provinces while Deputy PM Vũ Đức Đam worked with Ninh Bình province’s authorities to inspect preparations to cope with storm Dianmu in these localities.

The localities were requested to call upon all ships operating at sea to return to the mainland or seek safe shelter.

More efforts should be taken to evacuate residents from areas outside sea dykes and prevent weak dyke sections from breaking up.

The storm, by 4pm yesterday, was in China’s Leizhou Peninsula, moving west at 20km per hour and was predicted to gain strength before making landfall in Việt Nam, according to the National Centre of Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

By 5pm, there were more than 2,500 ships from Hải Phòng City and 300 ships from Nam Định Province operating at sea.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, torrential rains began in the entire northern and northern central regions from yesterday afternoon.

Stay well-prepared

Localities in tropical storm Dianmu’s path have hurriedly made preparations to minimise damage from the storm.

In Quảng Ninh Province, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Long organised an urgent meeting to direct local agencies to take measures to cope with the storm yesterday morning.

“The first task is ensuring safety for local residents,” he said.

Long ordered all offshore vessels to be informed about the storm’s developments so that they could seek safe anchorage and all tourism vessels on Hạ Long Bay must cease operations before 1pm today.

He directed the head of Cô Tô Island District to take actions to keep islanders and nine tourists stranded there safe.

Hoàng Bá Nam, Party Secretary of the People’s Committee of the island district, said it had prohibited vessels from sailing to the island from Wednesday afternoon, and had stored food for local residents and tourists.

In Ninh Bình Province, the local administration started to evacuate residents living in areas near Bình Minh II Dyke and people residing in areas with high risks of landslide. The evacuation was set to be finished before 8pm today.

The administration had posted more workers on duty to keep dykes and reservoirs safe during the storm.

The Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control of northern mountainous Điện Biên Province yesterday directed districts to review locations with high risks of flash floods and landslides then quickly evacuating residents.

In Nam Định Province, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phạm Đình Nghị requested all local units to prepare for the storm.

Authorised agencies would help residents reinforce houses and farms to cope with the storm, he said.

In Thái Bình Province, the provincial People’s Committee decided to open drainages to reduce water levels in rivers before the storm. By 7am yesterday, the province had evacuated 360 residents to safety.

PM Phúc directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ensure safety for hydro-power reservoirs and the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Committee on Search and Rescue were assigned to be ready to support localities in emergencies.

Heads of People’s Committee of localities were told to make plans to allow students off school when the storm made landfall.

The forecasting centre put northern mountainous provinces, encompassing Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Sơn La, Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Yên Bái on high alert of flash floods and landslides, while alerting provinces in the northern delta and central provinces of Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh of floods. — VNS