Cows died everywhere after the devastating flood, people cried next to the cows' bodies

bò chết - Ảnh 1. — Mrs. Du cried next to the dead cow.

On the afternoon of November 21, Tuoi Tre reporters reached the flood center of Tuy An Dong, Dak Lak (Tuy An district, former Phu Yen province), the scene was devastated. People said the flood had exceeded the historical flood peak of 2009 by more than 1 meter. Hundreds of cows were dead, people cried next to the bloated cows.

Cows died everywhere after the terrible flood

To get to the commune, the reporter had to risk clinging to the railing of Lo Gom bridge, which had a severely collapsed bridge pier, to get to Tuy An Dong commune. Although we knew the locality was deeply flooded, it was hard to imagine that this commune, which runs along the Ky Lo river, would be so devastated.

From the beginning to the end of the commune, every house was flooded, most of them up to the roof. Ms. Duyen (a resident of Tuy An Dong commune) said: "No one thought the flood would exceed the historical level of 2009, so the damage was huge, chickens and cows died everywhere. Oh my, the damage is immeasurable."

Mr. Tran Van Lang (Tuy An Dong commune) had 2 cows die, now only 1 small cow survived in the barn. "The water reached the house and the cow barn, I don't know how it survived," Mr. Lang said, adding that many cows in the whole neighborhood died, most of them were swept away by the flood.

We entered Hoa Phu village (Tuy An Dong commune), the roads along the village were still waist-deep in water, rubbish everywhere. Almost every house here raised cows for birth and this flood killed 90% of the households. Some had only one cow, some had two or three. The people's biggest assets were "robbed" by the flood from Ky Lo river.

Standing in front of his house, looking out at the field where the water had almost completely receded, where there were the bodies of two dead cows, Mr. Lam Tan Ngoc sighed and said: "We are people from the flood area, so our houses and cow barns are all higher than the peak of the flood in 2009. We didn't expect the flood this year to be 2.3 meters higher than the peak. Moreover, the flood rose so quickly that we couldn't react in time, watching the cows die in the water without being able to save them."

bò chết - Ảnh 2. — Two cows died on the side of the village road

bò chết - Ảnh 3. — A cow died in the field

Bò chết la liệt sau trận lũ tàn khốc, người dân khóc nghẹn bên xác bò - Ảnh 4. — Severe floods swept through Tuy An Dong, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

Crying next to a dead cow

Next to Mr. Ngoc's house, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Du (51 years old) sat crying loudly next to the dead cow on the porch. Mrs. Du choked up and told the reporter: "Everything is gone, uncle." Although her husband and children tried to comfort her, looking at the wet rice fields and not even having clothes on, Mrs. Du could not hold back her tears.

"What a terrible flood! There's nothing left in the house. The mother cow is dead. I don't know if the calf will survive," Mrs. Du said, crying, hugging the smelly cow.

The flood was so fierce that trees leaned to one side and walls collapsed. Mr. Nguyen Van Toan’s cow died, its leg still resting on the barn post. Mr. Toan said that around 10:00 a.m. on November 19, the flood rose very quickly. The whole village screamed, mixed with the sound of cows mooing. At 2:00 p.m., the flood peaked.

"I saw the cow drowning. As soon as I ran out, the flood water rushed in. Luckily, I grabbed onto a tree branch, tried to go back into the house, broke the roof, and escaped. Thinking back now, I'm glad I survived," said Mr. Toan.

Mr. Tran Van Bien, Chairman of Tuy An Dong Commune People's Committee, said: "The flood was too big, the damage was huge, many cows died in the commune. Currently, we cannot make statistics because we still have to worry about providing food for the people and overcoming the flood."

Some pictures of dead cows in Tuy An Dong: