Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình visits local people in Quảng Trị Province's Hải Định Commune yesterday.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng has ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to immediately dispatch sausages, ham and other necessary foods to people in flood-hit provinces in the central region.

Dũng also told the Ministry of National Defence to strengthen rescue forces and vehicles, including using helicopters to transport food and emergency aid to people in the flood-hit provinces, especially those in flooded and isolated areas.

He asked local authorities in the flood-hit provinces along with ministries to continue to remedy the consequences of floods to help residents get back on their feet.

Currently, the priority was to provide food and emergency aid for people in the flooded areas, he added.

Organisations and individuals providing food and emergency aid needed to co-ordinate with local authorities to avoid concentrating assistance in some places while many people in remote areas did not receive enough attention and support, he said.

Floodwaters quickly recede

According to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Quảng Bình Province, as of yesterday morning, the weather in many localities in the province was dry, without rain, and the floodwaters receded rapidly. Many roads have been re-opened, aiding relief activities.

It is estimated that about 16,000 households who were evacuated during the floods have returned home after the floodwaters receded yesterday morning.

The floodwaters had receded about 50cm compared to Wednesday, but many rural roads were not able to re-open because some locations were still flooded in Hàm Ninh, Xuân Ninh and Tân Ninh communes in Quảng Ninh District.  The situation was the same in Lệ Thủy District.

Preparations for Typhoon Saudel

In another development, Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình yesterday told Quảng Trị Province and localities in the central region to monitor the developments of Typhoon Saudel, the eighth typhoon to hit the East Sea this year, to prepare for its impacts.

Bình made the statement at a meeting with Quảng Trị authorities.

“The province must not be neglectful,” he said, adding that authorities should make plans to cope with the typhoon to ensure the safety of local people and their property.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting yesterday warned that by 1pm yesterday, the typhoon was 360km east of the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Archipelago with wind speeds of up to 100-135km per hour.

The typhoon, which was moving west-northwest at 5-10km per hour, was predicted to gain more strength in the next 24 hours.

The centre said the typhoon would become very strong as it neared Hoàng Sa.

However, the typhoon is expected to weaken when it makes landfall on central provinces on Sunday, according to the centre. — VNS