 Floods in the central region |
Severe storms and floods in the central region have focused the attention of Vietnamese people here and abroad. Localities, ministries, and sectors have collaborated to minimize the losses. In some localities Party Congresses at the local levels were postponed in order to focus on storm and flood response. Rescue workers have worked day and night in the hardest hit areas.
The National Committee for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue reported on October 10 that military commands of the central provinces mobilized 8.900 soldiers and militiamen, 200 vehicles, and civil forces to help storm victims. Rescue teams were able to rescue the crews of Vietship TK 12, Vietship 09, Vietship 01, Hoàng Tuấn 26, Thanh Thành Ðạt 55 and Thanh Thành Ðạt 68, all of which suffered misshape in a storm near the port of Cua Viet, Quang Tri province, on October 8. Rescue forces also saved the lives of 18 people on a passenger bus which was swept away by a flood on October 19 in Khe Gat, Quang Binh province.
 Rescue workers bring food to flood victims. |
Prolonged rains and flash floods caused landslides in many localities. Serious losses of human lives and property were reported. Officers and civil officials lost their lives during a rescue mission in the flood-ravaged central provinces.
The Party and State have directed localities to brace for further storms. On October 16 the Party Secretariat issued a directive on disaster response and recovery in the central region. On October 18 the Prime Minister ordered an urgent search and rescue operation for victims of a landslide at the Rao Trang 3 power plant in Thua Thien – Hue province.
On October 19 the Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Finance to distribute 5,000 tons of rice from the national reserve to Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quảng Nam, and Ha Tinh province to go help victims of storms, and 21 million USD in emergency aid from the State budget reserve to help people in the central region.
Government and State leaders visited the disaster area to direct the recovery effort. The Prime Minister made a working visit to Quang Binh province on October 24. During an online meeting with local officials bracing for storm Molave, the Prime Minister asked ministries and sectors to cancel unnecessary meetings, and give first priority to disaster response with the ultimate goal of protecting lives.
Vietnamese here and abroad have donated money to help the victims of storms and floods in the central region, following the Vietnamese tradition of mutual support whenever fellow countrymen are in difficulties.
Some people who claim to be advocates of democracy and human rights did nothing to help. They just wrote stories criticizing the administration, police and military forces, and ordinary citizens who risked their lives to protect others. Their purpose was to sabotage the Vietnamese Party and State by sharing inaccurate information designed to incite the public and overseas Vietnamese, divide Vietnam’s great national unity, and undermine relations between the people, the Party, and State. Despite their effort to distort reality, they were unable to sow division in the great national unity of Vietnam.