The devastated scene after being swept away by flood in Khe Tre commune. Photo: VT

Heavy damage

These days, the main road connecting Nam Dong to the outside is still cut off due to the serious landslide of the only Provincial Road 14B and the Phu Mau Bridge pier. To reach Nam Dong, we had to enter the La Son - Tuy Loan Expressway crossing - about 300m from the old point. Through this crossing, the scene of devastation hit our eyes: Mountains collapsed, soil flowed, rivers and streams seriously eroded, creating new streams, deep holes, eating into gardens, houses, bridges, infrastructure...

The most severely damaged was Khe Tre commune. The floods have become a terrible obsession for the people here. In just a short time, solid houses and fertile gardens were swept away by floodwaters and giant blocks of earth and rock. In the whole Khe Tre commune, 6 houses were damaged by floods, 5 bridges had their foundations eroded, many roads and irrigation canal systems were damaged and leveled. In addition, mountains, hills, rivers and streams were also eroded, making the lives and activities of the people difficult.

Mr. Nguyen Luong in Xuan Phu village (near the waterfall) shared: Heavy rains caused the river water to rise, combined with floods from upstream, creating large streams of water that swept away everything on the road. My wife and I's solid house was swept away by floodwaters when the landslide penetrated more than 30m deep. The feeling of helplessness and loss when witnessing our lifelong assets being swept away is a pain that is hard to describe in words. We really need timely support from the government, especially resettlement to soon stabilize our lives. Next to my house is Mr. Tran Van Vieng's house, which also shares the same fate.

In Long Quang commune, in addition to landslides in many places with more than 8,000m3 of rock and soil overflowing the road and nearly 2,000m of canals being buried, Provincial Road 14B, the border between the old Huong Huu commune and the old Thuong Long commune, suffered serious positive slope landslides. Many sections of the roadbed were broken, with an estimated amount of rock and soil overflowing the road of more than 300m3, about 2m high, causing traffic disruption. In addition to the rock and soil overflowing, the amount of rock and soil from the middle of the hilltop that slid also has the risk of landslides.

Chairman of Long Quang Commune People's Committee Nguyen Anh informed: This is the main road connecting the old Thuong Long and old Thuong Quang communes with other communes. Although the authorities and local authorities have announced and instructed people to travel through the inter-commune road to connect with other communes, because the inter-commune road is narrow, has low load-bearing capacity, cannot be used for vehicles with a total load of over 7 tons and cannot be used for a long time for normal traffic of people as well as traffic of goods, so the movement and transportation of goods also faces many obstacles.

The first gifts arrived to households that suffered heavy damage due to losing their homes. Photo: VT

Early support for rebuilding living and production

In recent days, volunteer groups, benefactors and the government have provided initial support, helping people overcome difficulties. However, long-term reconstruction requires time and resources. In addition, there is also a need for sustainable support policies, both in terms of funding and technology, to help people stabilize their lives and production. According to initial calculations by localities, the three communes mentioned above need about 200 billion VND in the immediate future, of which Khe Tre needs about 100 billion VND, Long Quang 50 billion VND, and Nam Dong 50 billion VND to repair traffic infrastructure and landslides.

Mr. Duong Thanh Phuoc, Chairman of Khe Tre Commune People's Committee, proposed: Currently, the locality is focusing all its efforts to overcome the consequences of the flood, but without timely support from the city, it will be very difficult for the locality to cope with the large amount of damage. Mr. Phuoc also proposed that the city soon invest in resettlement areas in Ha An - Da Phu and villages 1 and 2 to stabilize the housing for 65 households in areas at high risk of landslides. In addition, the locality also requested that city leaders promptly direct the inspection and reinforcement of Provincial Road 14B - an important gateway to the old Nam Dong and invest in embankments to prevent landslides on the Ta Trach River. These are long-term preventive measures, helping to protect infrastructure and houses from the risk of landslides in the coming time.

The communes in the old Nam Dong mountainous area also proposed that the city leaders and related units consider adjusting the location of the La Son - Tuy Loan expressway intersection and investing in a sewer system to collect water from the expressway to the Ta Trach river to ensure long-term traffic and limit the impact of floods on people's lives. In addition, these localities also need a long-term reconstruction strategy to stabilize their lives and adapt to climate change.

In addition to immediate measures such as resettlement and infrastructure reinforcement, there needs to be a comprehensive strategy for planning, housing construction and sustainable livelihood development for the people in the mountainous areas. Rebuilding Nam Dong is not only about rebuilding houses and roads, but also about encouraging the spirit and will to rise up of the people here.

PEACE

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/theo-dong-thoi-su/can-mot-su-tai-thiet-ben-vung-cho-vung-nam-dong-159900.html