Soldiers in Ky Son District help residents clean up after flash floods. —VNA/VNS
NGHE AN (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): A flash flood at 2am on Oct 2 swept away Lo Van Bay's house in Ta Ca Commune, Ky Son District, central Nghe An Province.
In one night, he lost everything but his life.
He said he and his wife were awakened by the sound of rocks and soil being swept away by flash floods. They managed to escape but lost their house and all their property.
“Only four pillars were left from my house,” Bay said.
In less than two months, Ky Son District has suffered from two floods. The severe one in the early morning of Oct 2 killed one person and damaged 232 houses, including 55 which were swept away. In addition, hundreds of families lost property, estimated at more than VNĐ100 billion.
Hundreds of soldiers and police officers have visited the villages to help residents repair and rebuild houses.
On the way to Hoa Son Village, rocks and soils still block the road.
Hundreds of people are working day and night to clean up. Excavators and dump trucks are operating at full capacity.
On Oct 2 alone, as many as 700 people were mobilised to villages in the district to help.
The soldiers and police officers built temporary bridges from bamboo to send food and essential items to isolated residents.
The Border Guard of Nghe An Province donated 2.5 tonnes of food and drinks to those affected by floods. In addition, up to 500 youths volunteered to help clean up houses and deliver food to residents.
La Ngoc Lam, 73 and living in Muong Xen Town, said this was the first time in his life he has seen flooding this bad.
His one-floor house was covered in rocks and soil. He feels lucky to be alive.
“Without the help of soldiers and police, my family would not know how to reorganise everything,” he told Vietnam News Agency.
La Kham On from Mưong Xen Town said he and his wife tried to dig out properties that are under two metres of soil.
Dozens of people have come to help the family reach their possessions. On hopes that some of them can be saved.
Colonel Duong Minh Hien, Deputy Military Commander of Nghe An Province, said the greatest difficulty is removing the massive amount of soil and rocks.
“Machines cannot enter deep into remote areas, so we utilise human power, which will take many days to complete the cleaning task.
“The water has receded, and we are making use of this to speed up the work,” he said.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Tran Ngọc Tuan, deputy director of the provincial Public Security, said besides on-site forces, including the district and commune’s police, nearly 200 officers and soldiers of the provincial public security forces have been mobilised. The provincial police will continue to mobilise more forces and vehicles to support residents overcome flood consequences.
Nguyen Huu Minh, chairman of the Ky Son District People’s Committee, said: “By all means, we must enter isolated areas. Moving people to a safe place is the top priority.”
