Quang Nam (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on November 1 urged authorities ofcentral provinces to make maximum efforts to support residents hit by recentstorms and floods.

He made the request at a meeting with officials of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai andBinh Dinh provinces, and Da Nang city on November 1 in Tam Ky city of QuangNam on measures to overcome storm consequences and search and rescue operations.

Reporting at the event, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and standingdeputy head of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Preventionand Control Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that typhoon Molave, the ninth storm hittingVietnam this year and among the strongest ones in 20 years, caused seriousdamage to lives and property in the country, especially central provinces.

Currently, competent forces are urgently looking for missing people and focusingon the rescue work at landslide-hit places, he said, adding that priority isnow given to ensuring people have enough food and restoring essentialfacilities such as electricity and water works, schools and houses.
 
The Government leader emphasised the need to urgently surmount the consequencesof floods and typhoon Molave by all means, since there are still many missingpeople yet to be found, and risks for diseases and environmental problems are looming.He also urged long-term solutions to be taken into account to effectively respondto storms and floods, and ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

“The most importantthing is to take practical measures to deal with the situation in the contextof huge losses in life and property,” he said.

As many people are becoming homeless, many places are isolated, and childrencannot go to school, the PM required ministries, sectors and localities to takestronger and more timely measures to overcome the consequences of typhoonMolave.

Stressing huge damage to lives and property caused by natural disasters, floodsand storms in October in the country, especially in the central region, PM Phucexpressed his belief that people in the region will overcome all difficultiesas consequences of storms and floods to stabilise their lives.

Regarding specific measures, he emphasised the urgent need to ensure travel on arterialtraffic routes, particularly those for distributing reliefs, while taking allmeasures to search for and rescue people still missing due to storms and floodsand actively treat those injured.

He also said thatQuang Nam province must direct its General Hospital to provide free treatmentfor victims of the recent landslides.

The province was asked to provide shelters for people in need, together withnecessities such as food and medicine; and ensure that students can get back totheir study early.

The localities, which receive reliefs, need to be open and transparent,” thePrime Minister noted.

The PM tasked military and police forces withrepairing and building houses and public facilities, which, he said, must beresistant to storms and floods.

He called for great efforts in response to the 10th storm, Goni, which is forecast to make landfall in Vietnam in the next fewdays.

Ministries and agencies were assigned to help theaffected localities deal with consequences of the 9th storm.However, he said, local authorities and residents need to play a more activerole in response efforts.

The Government leader asked the Ministry of NationalDefence, the Ministry of Public Security and Military Zone 5 to deploy forcesand equipment, including helicopters, to join search and rescue operations.

|The Ministry of Finance should consider allocatingcapital to the localities hard hit by the 9th storm, especiallyQuang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces, and submit the allocation planto the PM for approval, he said./.