The Ho Chi Minh City Party Standing Committee and the People’s Committee on Monday worked with authorities in districts and various departments to speed up repair of properties in the aftermath of Storm ‘Phakhar’.
According to the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, soon after Storm ‘Phakhar’ weakened into a tropical depression, it moved toward areas in the southern region including Ho Chi Minh City, causing substantial damage in 24 districts.
The worst affected district was Can Gio, followed by Thu Duc District. Power blackouts occurred in various parts of the city. 13 houses are said to have collapsed, hundreds of others lost their roof tops and 400 trees were uprooted.
Nguyen Van Dua, Standing deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee instructed districts as well as departments to keep track of the damage and report to the city authorities.
Districts should speed up cleaning of streets and examine trees that are partially damaged and in danger of falling.
On the long term, the Departments of Construction, and Natural Resources and Environment should guide residents to build stronger houses and organise training courses to teach people how to manage and cope with storms.
On Monday, Can Gio District helped evacuees return to their homes and assisted them to repair houses and resume their livelihood.
The City People’s Committee ordered districts to visit all those affected by the tropical depression.
In related news, supermarkets like Big C, MaxiMark and SatraMart in HCMC reported sales reduction on Hung Kings’ National holiday, because of the stormy weather.
Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy director of Saigon Co.op said that on Sunday, purchasing power dropped by 30 per cent compared to the same period in previous weeks.
A similar situation prevailed in other markets. Traders in Van Thanh Market in Binh Thanh District said that the sale of meat decreased by half, due to the continual downpour.
Khanh Hoa Province in the central region reported two deaths due to heavy rains that also triggered flooding, which inundated about 700 hectares of ready-to-be harvested rice.
In the Mekong Delta, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Long An Province said that torrential heavy rainfall damaged 190 houses in Can Duoc and Can Giuoc Districts. Over 10,000 hectares of winter-spring rice crop has been battered in Dong Thap Muoi area, which will be difficult to harvest.
The provincial authorities have assisted every family whose homes have collapsed with an initial VND6 million, and those who lost their roof tops with VND3 million.
About 22,000 evacuees have returned to their homes in Tan Phu Dong and Go Cong Dong Districts and Go Dong town of Tien Giang Province. Fishing boats have resumed operations and 700 houses have been already been repaired.
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