Amid recent reports from the national meteorological agency warning rainfall exceeding the average of many years by 10 percent to 30 percent over various places, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has requested the creation of a Zalo group to facilitate communication and interaction, primarily among localities, for steering disaster prevention and control.
On May 29, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep had a working session with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology to assess the current flood situation and direct response actions in the coming time.
At the working session, Director of the National Center for Hydrological and Meteorological Forecasting Mai Van Khiem stated that from the beginning of this year until now, many areas in the Red River Delta, North Central, mid-Central and Southern regions have recorded rainfall ranging from 15 percent to 30 percent higher than the multi-year average, even exceeding 80 percent in some places.
In the area of Bai Thuong, Thanh Hoa Province, rainfall has reached 638mm, while the multi-year average is only about 416mm.
The inflow to major reservoirs of Son La, Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang is increasing sharply, requiring early water releases.
This year, heavy rain events are expected to continue in the Northern, North Central, Central Highlands and Southern regions from June to August, specifically in the Central region during the last months of the year.
Director of the Department of Hydrometeorology Nguyen Thuong Hien reported that lightning detection stations, satellite cloud imaging systems and ozone–UV radiation measuring equipment have undergone regular maintenance. However, many critical devices including weather radar, marine radar, radio sounding systems and wind measuring devices have not yet been maintained.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep has requested the Department of Hydrometeorology and the National Hydrological and Meteorological Forecasting to improve the accuracy of natural disaster forecasts and provide effective weather alerts within 3-6 hours before natural disasters.
The Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention was urged to initially create an online communication group (Zalo) to convey warning information to local leaders, thereby immediately implementing disaster response scenarios.
