The storm just passed, the flood rose to the roof, people had no time to react

nước lũ - Ảnh 1. — Authorities used canoes to assist deeply flooded areas in Dong Xuan commune early this morning, November 7 - Photo: MINH CHIEN

On the evening of November 6 and early morning of November 7, the roads through Dong Xuan commune were cut off by floodwaters, forcing many convoys to turn around and even get stuck. By this morning, the floodwaters had receded, but the roads through Dong Xuan commune were still cut off and blocked.

Many houses were flooded, people went to the roof to call for help at night.

In Long Chau village, Dong Xuan commune, the house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Bo (35 years old) was half submerged by flood water.

“My house was raised higher than many others but was still half submerged. The floodwaters rose too quickly, and this is a low-lying area so we were practically swimming in water,” said Ms. Bo.

nước lũ - Ảnh 2. — Half of a resident's house was flooded - Photo: MINH CHIEN

Mobilized to the commune People's Committee headquarters to take shelter from the storm, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Yen (44 years old, residing in Long Binh village) said that her family of four was mobilized by the commune to evacuate early.

“At 11am on November 6, the water flooded into the house. Only then did the four of us move here. My house is a low-lying area, so every year when there is a big storm or flood, we go to the commune committee to take shelter from the storm. Last night, the water flooded up to the roof of my house, so this morning we still had to take shelter here. We will only return when the water recedes,” said Ms. Yen.

Unable to sleep all night, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ai Lam (43 years old, Long Binh village resident) worried: "If my family had not come here earlier, we would have waited for the rescue boat to come. The water flooded in so quickly, we did not have time to move our belongings, we only had time to worry about the safety of the children. The house was reinforced to avoid the storm, but we did not expect it to be flooded suddenly, the damage is still undetermined."

The leader of Dong Xuan Commune People's Committee said that the evacuation and rescue of people trapped in the flood was carried out throughout the night. Officers, soldiers and canoes were reinforced to deep flooded and isolated areas to bring people to safety and shelter. Last night, many people had to climb onto the roofs to wait for rescue.

Along with organizing rescue forces, the locality also organized signs and ropes in areas with fast-flowing water and overflow bridges to ensure people's safety.

The convoy carrying coffins suddenly got stuck in floodwaters.

Last night, a convoy of nearly 10 people drove into the Dak Lak People's Committee compound without anyone telling them to, to take temporary shelter while waiting for the flood to recede. Nguyen Thanh (42 years old, resident of Tan An ward, Dak Lak) - a member of the convoy - said that the convoy was bringing a deceased relative from Dak Lak to Hue for burial, but when they reached Dong Xuan commune, they got stuck and could not move forward because of the flood.

"I was informed by the locals that the water was so deep that I couldn't go anywhere, but the car taking the deceased back to their hometown for burial couldn't turn back. Luckily, when I got here, the local authorities let me stay overnight until the water receded," said Mr. Thanh.

Mr. Thanh said that he arrived here around 11pm on November 6. His whole family just hoped the water would recede quickly so that they could bring their loved one home for burial.

"The coffin is still in the car. If there had been no storm, we would have arrived on time for the burial. But the storm was so sudden that we had to miss the burial time. I just hope that when we get to Hue , everything will be okay," Thanh sighed.