Storm comes "at lightning speed", urgent response required

This afternoon, August 23, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment sent an urgent dispatch to the People's Committees of coastal provinces and cities from Quang Ninh to Gia Lai, requesting immediate implementation of measures to ensure safety for the dyke system and irrigation works to respond to storm No. 5 (Kajiki) and accompanying floods.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the storm is currently moving rapidly at a speed of about 25km/hour, forecast to be at level 10-11 when approaching the Hoang Sa archipelago on the morning of August 24 and reaching level 11-12, gusting to level 15 when entering the Thanh Hoa - Hue sea area on the morning of August 25 before making landfall in the Central region.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, this afternoon, storm No. 5 continued to strengthen and move closer to the Hoang Sa archipelago. At 1 p.m., the storm center was located at 17.4 degrees North latitude and 115.0 degrees East longitude, about 300km East Northeast of Hoang Sa, with winds of level 9, gusting to level 11.

Updated information at 3:00 p.m., the storm center has reached coordinates of about 17.5 degrees North latitude and 114.6 degrees East longitude, only about 250km from Hoang Sa, with strong winds of level 9-10, gusting to level 12.

In the next 3 hours, the storm will continue to move in the West Northwest direction at a speed of about 25km/hour, forecast to directly affect the North East Sea area tonight.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep requested localities to urgently and strictly implement Official Dispatch No. 141/CD-TTg of the Prime Minister .

The official dispatch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment requires checking and reviewing dike protection plans, especially for vulnerable dikes, unfinished construction works and locations at risk of insecurity; increasing patrols and guarding of dikes during the rainy and flood season, and preparing human resources, materials and means according to the "4 on-site" motto to handle incidents as soon as they arise.

Localities must promptly notify residents, owners of vehicles and coastal structures, and prepare emergency evacuation plans for households in dangerous areas.

For irrigation works, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment directed the review and compilation of a list of key lakes and dams at risk of incidents, especially small lakes managed by communes; at the same time, the water level of reservoirs must be lowered to receive floods, absolutely not to discharge unusual floods that endanger downstream areas, and must give early warnings to people when operating flood discharge.

Provinces and cities need to identify flood-prone areas in advance and proactively operate irrigation works to drain water for production and daily life. Localities should closely monitor the developments of storms, floods, the status of the dike system and irrigation works, and immediately report any incidents for coordination in handling.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/bao-vao-than-toc-phai-ung-pho-khan-post809806.html