Proactive, decisive, responsible, flexible, and timely respond to storms and floods

Unity

When the flood waters on Hoang Long and Day rivers rose to 4.9m, with the risk of spillovers present, Ninh Binh promptly received the direction of the Government, the Prime Minister and especially the direct direction of Politburo member, Party Central Committee Secretary, Head of the Central Organization Committee Le Minh Hung and Mr. Tran Hong Ha, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control for Ninh Binh province; the timely guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ; the Central and local hydrometeorological forecasting agencies made timely and accurate forecasts so that the locality could grasp the situation and have appropriate response measures.

With the spirit of proactiveness, early and far-reaching prevention, Ninh Binh has seriously implemented the Prime Minister's telegrams; urgently and resolutely mobilized the entire political system to prepare for storm No. 3 and the floods after the storm. The province has issued 5 telegrams, 1 evacuation order; at the same time, organized inspection teams and assigned members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, members of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue to closely follow the area to direct and urge localities to prepare forces, means and materials to respond to and overcome the consequences caused by storm No. 3 and floods.

At 1:00 p.m. on September 12, 2024, when the flood level reached 4.9m at Ben De, according to the plan approved by the competent authority, Ninh Binh province issued an order to evacuate the Lac Khoi spillway area. The forces coordinated to support 8,232 households with about 30,000 people in 12 communes in Nho Quan and Gia Vien districts to evacuate to a safe place.

The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee also held an urgent meeting with the Provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control; relevant departments, branches and the two districts of Nho Quan and Gia Vien on the scenario for responding to the flood situation on the Hoang Long River; agreed on the view that the situation and flood developments will be very complicated due to the influence of the circulation of storm No. 3, combined with the combination of high tides, large water flows from the upstream of the Hoa Binh region and the flood level on the Day River continues to rise; the dike system and works on the dike from 2017 to now, over time of use, have appeared a number of weak points, with the risk of causing insecurity, the elevation of some sections is low due to geological changes, large and frequent traffic volume.

Faced with the above reality, Ninh Binh has proactively prepared many response plans, with the worst case scenario being having to discharge floodwaters from Lac Khoi, discharge spillways from Duc Long Gia Tuong and open Mai Phuong Dich Long sluice gates... to cut off the floodwaters from Hoang Long River, ensuring safety for the dike system, residents, and economic development in the left Hoang Long River area, where factories of 2 industrial parks and 3 industrial clusters are concentrated, contributing about 60% of the province's industrial production value.

The problem at this time is not "gains and losses" but "people's lives must be put first". If the flood discharge at the above points will affect over 200,000 people in 6/8 districts and cities of the province, causing huge damage up to tens of thousands of billions of VND and taking a long time to fix. Besides, in recent years, Ninh Binh has been a destination for domestic and foreign investors, if forced to discharge the flood, it will affect the investment environment and competitiveness of the province.

It has been suggested that "spillover" is the best measure to protect the dike. However, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee has requested the Standing Committee and members of the Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control, and localities to concentrate their collective intelligence, analyze and assess the situation scientifically and reasonably, based on practicality and consistent viewpoints, not being subjective or hasty, combined with the local experience over many years in the work of preventing and fighting natural disasters, storms and floods, Ninh Binh has calmly handled situations according to the proposed plan and scenario; arranged forces to inspect and monitor the entire dike line 24/24 hours "no gaps, no rest time", focusing on the Hoang Long river dike, the Boi river dike, and having plans to immediately handle weak points; ensure means, materials and equipment to carry out dike patrols and guarding; properly operate flood diversion and flood slowing works to ensure the safety of the dike lines. Sectors, localities, and Nho Quan and Gia Vien districts continue to monitor flood levels at Hung Thi station and flood-related factors on Hoang Long river to deploy plans appropriate to reality in a proactive, non-subjective spirit.

Along with that, focus on propagating to the people to have a correct awareness of the danger level of floods so that they can be proactive, not panic, waver, strictly follow the orders and recommendations of the government as well as participate with the State in rescue when urgent situations occur on the dikes. Absolutely ensure the safety of people and property of the people when evacuating.

In particular, with the spirit of "4 on-site", Ninh Binh has focused on mobilizing all forces including the army, police, local forces and militia to patrol the dikes and be ready to respond when situations arise. On the night of September 12, comrade Pham Quang Ngoc, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the dikes in Gia Vien and Nho Quan districts and inspected the on-duty organization of localities. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee inspected the key points on the left dike of Hoang Long, Gia Vien district and the Duc Long-Gia Tuong dike, Nho Quan district; encouraged the forces on duty to patrol the dikes; sectors and localities to continue to maintain their spirit, be proactive and flexible in handling situations, with the motto that the safety of the people must come first.

Fortunately and favorably for Ninh Binh province, on September 12, the weather was favorable, there was no more rain upstream, and with the drastic, synchronous, and scientific direction of the Government and the Prime Minister in reducing water discharge at hydroelectric reservoirs; by 10:00 p.m. on September 12, the water level at Ben De had peaked at 4.93m, below the flood discharge threshold according to Ninh Binh province's plan (level 5.3m). By not having to discharge floodwater, the safety, lives, and property of the people and the State were ensured, and thousands of billions of VND in damage was reduced for Ninh Binh province.

Urgently rebuild the lives of people in flooded areas

Thus, with the timely and comprehensive leadership and direction of the Party, the proactive, drastic, focused and scientific leadership of the government, the close and consistent coordination of departments, branches and localities, the unanimous support of businesses and people, Ninh Binh has responded effectively and promptly to possible situations to minimize the damage caused by storms and floods. Ninh Binh has had no human casualties, all households in the affected areas have been evacuated to safe places. The system of dykes, pumping stations, dams, power grids and communications of the province still operate safely and continuously, ensuring flood prevention, drainage, and power supply for production and daily life of the people.

Some initial damages were reported due to the rising flood causing flooding, cutting off traffic for households with houses outside the dike and causing damage to some structures. The whole province has 3,682 houses outside the dike flooded about 1-2m deep, mainly in Gia Vien and Nho Quan districts; the first section of Highway 477 in Nho Quan district was flooded about 200m; the foot of Huu Day dike on the field side collapsed 60m long in Hung Tien commune, Kim Son district; the discharge tank at Gia Tran pumping station cracked... The initial damage due to storms and floods in the province is estimated at over 50 billion VND.

Not being subjective with natural disaster situations that may occur after storms and floods, in the coming time, Ninh Binh province will continue to focus on monitoring flood developments on Hoang Long and Day rivers; assigning and dispatching forces to patrol and inspect 24/7 on dykes to promptly detect incidents and implement response plans according to approved scenarios.

Immediately after the flood receded, the province directed sectors and localities to synchronously deploy solutions to overcome the consequences, ensuring the early stabilization of people's lives. Especially restoring agricultural production, restructuring crops and livestock. Immediately deploying solutions to ensure the environment, social security, education, and health care for people in affected localities... Encouraging businesses to quickly continue to promote production, not to break the supply chain; focusing on promoting growth momentum in the service and tourism sectors; stabilizing the market and developing the economy, striving to ensure growth in economic indicators in 2024 and the entire term.

In the long term, Ninh Binh province also proposed that the Government consider: According to the Ninh Binh Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister, Ninh Binh has proposed specific solutions to respond to natural disasters, aiming to eliminate flood diversion and flood delay areas, ensuring a stable life for nearly 25,000 households with about 100,000 people. At the same time, create conditions for the province to use and promote the value of nearly 15,000 hectares of flood diversion and flood delay areas in Nho Quan and Gia Vien districts to serve socio-economic development in a fast and sustainable direction.

In addition, to ensure the ability to quickly drain and drain floods, meeting the requirements during periods of prolonged heavy rain and floods, the province proposed that the Central Government implement dredging and rectification of the Cua Day area. With the goal of sustainable reconstruction for the flood area, Ninh Binh also proposed that the Central Government have a general policy or assign the province to issue a policy to relocate households that are frequently flooded, especially in the Heritage area.

Nguyen Thom

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/chu-dong-quyet-liet-trach-nhiem-linh-hoat-kip-thoi-ung-pho/d20240915223219555.htm