NANNING, July 10 (Xinhua) — Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing has emphasized the need to take early and proactive measures to guard against Typhoon Bavi.
Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a coordination meeting on disaster prevention and response to Typhoon Bavi convened by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Zhang stressed that officials at all levels should remain at their posts and fully shoulder their political responsibility for flood control and disaster relief.
Close attention must be paid to critical locations, with more frequent inspections of historically vulnerable sites, reservoirs and river embankments. Defective reservoirs should be drained in advance and must not be allowed to operate with safety risks, he noted.
Early warnings and emergency response measures should be issued and activated in advance, with particular attention to early warnings for localized extreme rainfall, flooding on small and medium-sized rivers, and mountain torrents and mudslides.
Zhang also called for strengthening emergency warning and notification mechanisms in remote mountainous areas and at night to guard against secondary disasters.
Evacuation and risk-avoidance measures should also be implemented proactively, he stressed. Vulnerable groups, including the elderly, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the sick, as well as those living in high-risk areas such as mountain gullies and flood channels, should be evacuated early, wherever necessary, and as quickly as possible.
National comprehensive firefighting and rescue teams, together with other professional emergency rescue forces, should be deployed in advance and stand ready to respond immediately when called upon, Zhang stressed.
At the same time, he said, authorities should remain highly vigilant about workplace safety, ensure that safety measures are fully implemented meticulously, and resolutely prevent major accidents.
From Thursday to Friday, the vice premier also visited the disaster-hit regions of Guigang and Hengzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, urging efforts to support affected residents and expedite post-disaster recovery.
Zhang stressed the importance of focusing on ensuring the basic living needs of disaster-affected residents and accelerating recovery efforts.
He called for thorough disaster assessment and investigation, urging authorities to draw lessons from identified problems and strengthen risk screening, monitoring, early warning and patrols in high-risk areas, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs with safety risks and areas prone to geological disasters, in order to prevent secondary disasters such as dam failures, landslides and mudslides.
Noting that the flood control situation remains severe and complex, Zhang stressed the need to further strengthen bottom-line thinking, enhance information sharing and coordination, and take decisive evacuation measures when necessary.
