Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed the funding allocation for the project to modernise the natural disaster early warning and forecast system at the North-East regional Hydro-meteorological Station, with an estimated capital of nearly USD4 million from non-refundable official development assistance from the Republic of Korea.

Serious floods in central region in 2014. (Photo: dantri.com.vn)

The project aims to increase the capacity on monitoring and hydro-meteorological forecasts for the National Hydro-meteorological Service, as well as the North-East regional Hydro-meteorological Station; train and raise the standard of technical cadres; and intensify the response ability against natural disasters through regular inspection system.

The project is expected to be implemented within 36 months.

In 2014, the climatic conditions were abnormal. Five storms and 3 tropical areas of low pressure entered the East Sea with 3 storms directly affecting Vietnam. In addition, 30 flashfloods, 170 whirlwinds, 17 hot spells, 25 cold spells and perse flood-tides greatly affected people’s lives and production.

The year saw much lower rainfall than the average level of previous years, leading to the current serious droughts in Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces and the Central Highlands region./.

( Compiled by VNF )