Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc asked for prompt measures to be taken to support flood-hit communities’re-building efforts during a meeting with officials from Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh,Yen Bai and Son La in Hanoi on October 26.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD), heavy rains and flood from August 2-3 and October 9-10 inthe four localities caused 91 deaths and missing, while collapsing more than356 houses with total property loss of over 8.5 trillion VND.

Meanwhile, torrential rains from October 9-12 in NgheAn and some northwest provinces resulted in devastating floods in some rivers,and forced Hoa Binh reservoir to open eight floodgates for the first time.

Floods in the Hoang Long river in Ninh Binh and theCau Chay river in Thanh Hoa exceeded the record level by 20-30cm, causingoverflow and damage in 252 dyke areas.

Serious landslides also affected mountainous localities,especially Tan Lac, Da Bac, Kim Boi districts and Hoa Binh city of Hoa Binhprovince.

Since early this year, natural disasters has left 245deaths and missing, collapsing over 4,600 houses, seriously damaging more than102,00 others across the country. Total property losses amounted to 36.5trillion VND (more than 1.6 billion USD).

The MARD held that geographical features and deforestationwere among reasons behind heavy downpours and floods in northern mountainousregion, along with poor forecasting capacity.

It proposed the Prime Minister provide urgentinvestment for these localities to fix and reinforce dykes, together with improvingresilience of public works and efficiency of warning equipment.

Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung pointed to the necessity to reviewall areas prone to flash flood for preventive measures, as well as adopt solutionsto maintaining lakes and dams to ensure their smooth operation.

PM Phuc asked for reviewing disaster responseactivities, from forecasting, directing, fighting and recovering process todraw lessons.

Along with cutting interest rates and reschedulingloans for the locals, the PM asked the localities to pay special attention tothe production of the winter-spring rice crop and care for them in the upcomingLunar New Year festival.

He assigned the MARD to provide varieties forflood-hit communities, while requesting authorized agencies to ensure smoothtransportation and supply of power, especially in northern mountainousprovinces. Population planning should also be completed towards ensuring safetyfor people, he added.

He also asked the localities to propose suitableassistance for them to quickly overcome consequences of the disasters andstabilise locals’ lives.

The Government leader also agreed with the MARD’ssuggestion to organise a national conference on natural disaster prevention andcontrol in December this year.-VNA