Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Thursday examined efforts to address the damage caused by the recent typhoon Damrey in Vạn Ninh District and Ninh Hòa Town – the two worst-affected areas in the central coastal province of Khánh Hòa.— VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

KHÁNH HÒA — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has decided to provide VNĐ1 trillion (US$44 million) to localities hit by typhoon Damrey early last month. 

The PM’s decision was announced on Thursday during his trip to the south central provinces of Khánh Hòa and Phú Yên, which have suffered devastating consequences.

Phú Yên will receive VNĐ170 billion while Khánh Hòa will get VNĐ260 billion - the record amount of post-disaster assistance provided to a locality to date. Each province will also receive 1,000 tonnes of rice.

The rest of the money will go to other localities also hit by Damrey, including eight provinces of Quảng Ngãi, Quảng Nam, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Bình Định, Lâm Đồng, Kon Tum and Đắk Lắk, and Đà Nẵng City.  

At a working session with leaders of the two provinces of Khánh Hòa and Phú Yên in Nha Trang City on Thursday, Phúc stressed that there was no absolutely safe area in the context of climate change, and urged local Party Committees and authorities to pay attention to raising public awareness on flood prevention.

He also said that both localities should consider it a political task to overcome storm consequences and ensure a return to normal life for people as well as production, especially industrial and agricultural production.  

Specific action programmes should be rolled out by each sector and locality to support flood-hit residents, the PM said.

He asked the provinces to scale up their vigilance and firmly request residents living in natural disaster-prone areas to evacuate to safer places so as to avoid the loss of human lives. 

Apart from dealing with consequences of downpours and floods, Khánh Hòa and other provinces should pay due attention to socio-economic development, Phúc said.  

Typhoon Damrey, the 12th storm to make landfall in Việt Nam this year, inflicted its worst damage on Khánh Hòa and Phú Yên. 

The disaster left 45 people dead and 229 others injured in Khánh Hòa, destroyed hundreds of thousands of houses and 36,300ha of crops, killed 370,000 heads of cattle and poultry, and washed away and damaged aquaculture facilities. Total economic loss suffered by the province has been estimated at VNĐ14.7 trillion.

The damage suffered by Phú Yên has been calculated at nearly VNĐ3.5 trillion.

PM inspects post-flood recovery efforts in Khánh Hòa

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Thursday examined efforts to address the damage caused by the recent typhoon Damrey in Vạn Ninh District and Ninh Hòa Town – the two worst-affected areas in the central coastal province of Khánh Hòa. 

The PM visited Văn Lang secondary school, which bore the brunt of the storm in Vạn Ninh District, where many classrooms were destroyed. The school has resumed operation, along with 50 of the locality’s 80 schools. 

The district actively implemented measures to mitigate the flood damage. As a result, the supply of electricity has been restored and most roads have been repaired. 

PM Phúc also visited the Vạn Giã fishing village in the district, where hundreds of shrimp and fish cages and houses were seriously damaged, and the Khatoco garment-textile factory of which 1,500 workers were forced to stop working for at least 45 days by the storm. 

The PM told local officials that as the Government’s funding is limited, the province needed to mobilise other resources to support flood victims. 

The same day, the PM is scheduled to meet with key officials of Khánh Hòa to discuss measures to help the province quickly restore production for businesses and normal daily life for locals as soon as possible. 

Typhoon Damrey, the 12th major storm in the East Sea, hit Việt Nam’s south central coast on November 4. Subsequent downpours and floods claimed 89 lives and left 18 missing and 174 others injured in central and Central Highlands localities as of November 7, according to the National Committee for Search and Rescue. — VNS