HCMC – The central province of Quang Ngai has proactively acted to evacuate thousands of residents from areas vulnerable to landslides and flooding to cope with Typhoon Goni, the 10th storm forecast to hit Vietnam this year.
Dang Van Minh, chairman of the provincial government, released a dispatch yesterday, November 3, asking local authorities to continue their evacuation efforts.
The districts of Son Tay, Minh Long, Son Ha and others had evacuated residents and workers from landslide-hit areas to safe shelters before 5 p.m. in the day. Competent forces were told to call on local residents not to leave the shelters, except in cases of emergency.
Phung To Long, vice chairman of Son Ha District, said the district was outlining a plan to evacuate 21 households with over 100 residents from Bo Village of Di Lang Town to a boarding school for ethnic minority students. As the village is at risk of landslide, the district proactively took action without waiting for clearer signs of a landslide, the local official said.
In Son Tay District, which is annually hit by major landslides, many working teams were sent to its communes to evacuate 630 households with over 2,000 residents from 52 sites usually at risk of landslides.
Vo Thin, vice chairman of Son Tay District, said that three landslide-hit sites during Typhoon Molave, the ninth storm to hit the country this year, buried many local houses. However, thanks to previous evacuation efforts, no human lives were lost.
In related news, the authority of neighboring Quang Nam Province this morning also ordered localities to evacuate residents from areas prone to landslides and flashfloods before 11 a.m. tomorrow to avoid the impact of Goni.
Quang Nam asked local authorities and agencies to closely monitor the developments of the typhoon to promptly respond to possible bad situations.
