Hanoi (VNA) 🐠– Government leaders scrutinised the preparations for storm Dianmu, the third of this year, in the northern and north central localities on August 19.

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue toured Quang Ninh province to inspect the Ha Nam sea dyke – which is 36.7 km long and crucial to over 60,000 locals in eight island communes. More than 400 officials and soldiers from special operation force, navy, and infantry forces were dispatched to reinforce some key parts of the dyke as well as direct hundreds of fishing boats on the Rut River to storm-resistant shelters. The Deputy PM asked the forces involved to increase efforts to ensure safety for locals and mitigate material losses. The province should make a proposal to the centrally-run ministries and sectors for about 200 billion VND (9 million USD) to build the remaining 12km part of Ha Nam dyke, he suggested. According to the provincial Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, heavy rain was falling across eight out of the 14 districts in the locality, including six districts in the east and Cam Pha and Ha Long cities, on August 19 morning. The rainfall was measured at about 100 mm. Soldiers, border guards, police, civil defence forces and young volunteers from Co To, Quan Lan and Van Don island districts stand ready around the clock to cope with the tropical storm. The same day, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam inspected the preparations for the storm in the north central province of Thanh Hoa . He asked the locality to keep a close watch on the movements of the storm and promptly inform locals on the preventive measures being taken, particularly removing people in flash flood and landslide prone areas to safety and seriously enforing a ban on boats and ships from sailing. Implementing the Prime Minister’s Notice No.1478/CD-TTg issued on August 18 to take proactive measures against the storm, the Ministry of National Defence has mobilised all necessary means of rescue, while border guards from Quang Ninh to Thanh Hoa have coordinated to direct ships and fishermen to safety. The storm has already killed one man in Son La province. According to the National Centre of Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, extensive rain has been raging through the northern and north central regions from August 18, and is expected to last until August 20, with rainfall for the period expected at 200-300 mm, and over 500 mm in some areas. Serious flash floods and landslide are forecast for Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Quang Ninh and mountainous areas in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. Inundation is also likely to occur in the northern delta and northern central low-land areas.-VNA