(Dan Tri) - In houses tilted by landslides located near the Hau River, on the Cai San Canal, local officials had two nails hammered into the floor and sidewalk, then tied with a rope with a certain amount of slack. When the rope was stretched and broke… that was the time for the homeowner to leave.
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Rain or shine, every time the market closes, Mrs. Le (64 years old) and her husband go out to their old house together, sit on the broken tile floor that is almost at the water level of Mang Thit River, in Tra On town, Tra On district ( Vinh Long ). Every now and then, they turn their necks towards the sound of falling tiles, the sound of walls and mounds of earth crashing into the riverbed, leaving behind sizzling foam on the water's surface.
The house has been submerged for 5 months, but Mr. Nguyen and Mrs. Le have not accepted the truth.
"The rented room is cramped, we have to avoid each other when standing, and we don't know where to go, so we come here to sit. At first, every time I came here, I cried. I both missed and regretted it! I'm almost 70 years old and still lost my house, so having to rent a house is so hard. I come here to sit, and if anything floats up, I wade down to pick it up , " the 67-year-old man's eyes turned red when talking about his house that collapsed in the West.
On the 7th of December last year (December 29, 2022), Mrs. Le was resting after the afternoon market, Mr. Nguyen was sweeping the cobwebs, cleaning the house to prepare for Tet, suddenly there was a cracking sound and the whole house shook.
"I only had time to pull her through the door before the whole house collapsed into the river. I couldn't get anything," he said, bewildered as if it was an instant incident.
Leaving his house, Mr. Nguyen saw pieces of land floating into the river, so he shouted loudly for his neighbors to run away. In just a moment, more than 80m of the residential road and Mr. Nguyen's house were submerged. 13 other houses were also damaged, partially collapsed, and were not safe enough to continue using. 48 people lost their homes in an instant.
The riverbank was left desolate. After the incident, the local government supported each household whose house had been eroded, including those in the danger zone, with 1 million VND per month to rent a place elsewhere.
"Luckily it was a landslide during the day, but I don't know what would happen if it happened at night. There are 6 people in my family, and sometimes I just think that as long as there are people, there is still property. Vietnamese people have a habit of comforting themselves by finding good luck in the midst of countless misfortunes," Ms. Le said to herself.
While absentmindedly recalling the story of 5 months ago, Mrs. Le and her husband heard someone say from behind: "Mr. Minh's house just collapsed, the government just went to measure it. If you keep sitting there, the river will swallow you."
It turned out that Ms. Nhi, a neighbor in the same situation as Mrs. Le, had just returned from her rented room to pack her things. Being reminded, the couple also got up and went back to their rented room.
With 1 million VND in support, the couple had to pay more than 1 million VND to rent a room "for the whole family to stand". They wanted to live in a bigger room but they had no money. Being a poor household, the whole family lived on 2 pots of boiled corn "with little profit" that Mrs. Le and her daughter sold at the town market.
The rented room was about 500m from the old house. It was stuffy in the sun and flooded when it rained. The room was big enough to fit two mattresses, but during the day one had to be propped up to sit and eat.
Mr. Nguyen has hung a series of hammocks across the room, so that when it floods, there will be a place to store things and a place to sleep.
Already earning barely enough to eat, now having to save up to pay rent, life becomes even more difficult. Mrs. Le's 5-year-old granddaughter should be going to school, but the family cannot afford to support her so they have to let her drop out.
Mrs. Le's two neighbors also had their porches half-collapsed, one of them had moved out and rented a house. The other house, Mr. Toan and his son had moved away for a while but have been back for a few days. Because the road and the porch had collapsed into the river, Mr. Toan and his son had to break through the wall to get in through the neighbor's house.
"Dad wants to go home because it's inconvenient to stay in a rented house. It's almost too late, but that's normal. You get used to it. If you're brave, you'll stay. The government won't let you. Dad's coming home, so I'm coming home with him," said Mr. Toan's daughter.
Mr. Minh's house (60 years old) is at the end of the row, 5 houses away from Mrs. Le's house. Luckily, the "river god" did not bite him. Only he and his wife remained to look after the almost empty house. Their children and belongings had all moved elsewhere.
Mr. Minh said that two years ago, when the land in front of his house suddenly flowed into the river, he immediately packed up most of his belongings and sent them away. Then in December 2022, when a series of neighboring houses collapsed, he decided to "kick his children out of the house and force them to rent a place to live."
"They live 3km away from home, if it were closer it would be too expensive to rent. I'm old, but they're young, so... In the last 10 days, the ground has sunk about 5cm. The house walls are also tilted and cracked, the government has come to take note and provide support," said Mr. Minh.
Every day, his wife goes to the market, and Mr. Minh's job is to walk around the house, look at the walls, look at the floor to see if there are any cracks or subsidence. He only checks to know, but there's nothing more he can do. Sometimes Mr. Minh clicks his tongue: "Landslides are a problem for the whole plain, not just one place."
The landslide on the Mang Thit river bank is located right at the intersection of the whirlpool. From Mr. Minh’s house, you can see a large ship sailing on the Hau river about 500m away. Mr. Minh and his wife, like all the neighboring families, hope that the embankment under construction will be completed soon.
From the landslide area of Mang Thit river bank, more than 60km upstream of Hau river, Cai San canal junction (Mi Thanh, Long Xuyen, An Giang ) has also often landslide in recent years.
In early June, on the road along the Cai San canal bank, in Thoi Hoa hamlet, My Thanh ward, a 35m long, 1-20cm wide crack appeared. 7 houses were tilted into the canal.
In the tilted houses, local officials had nails driven into the floors and sidewalks, and ropes tied with a certain amount of slack. When the ropes were stretched and broke… the homeowners had to leave.
"Hey little girl, don't touch the rope, if it breaks, I'll have to pack up and leave," Mrs. Le (46 years old) scolded her granddaughter who was approaching the rope. The child was startled by the scolding.
The rope could not keep the house from collapsing. Mrs. Le did not believe that the house would not collapse. She just wanted to cling on here as long as possible. She did not know where to go.
In recent years, her house has drifted about 1 meter into the riverbed. Every time the gap between the house and the steps is wide enough for a foot, she uses cement to fill it. "It's only been a few days, but it's drifted about 10 centimeters. I'm not exaggerating, when you come back in a few days, I guarantee my house will be gone," said Mrs. Le, adding, "Don't be afraid, I'm used to it."
Mrs. Phu's house (65 years old) is the most tilted. "They didn't even bother to tie a rope to mark it, you know," she complained.
Taking us into the house to see the scene, Mrs. Phu told us to walk slowly and be careful not to slip and fall into the river. The house was tilted so that the head of the bed was about 40cm higher than the foot of the bed.
"When I walk inside the house, I have to bend over and walk slowly like I'm climbing a hill. At night, I keep slipping and slipping. When I go to sleep, I don't dare close the door so I can run away quickly. I'm very scared, not that I'm not scared. I'm always nervous, but I can't go anywhere," said Mrs. Phu.
With no work, every day Mrs. Phu brings a chair out to sit on the porch, looking leisurely. But she sits there because she doesn’t dare stay inside the house… She is afraid the house will collapse.
Mr. Duc (58 years old) heard someone come to ask him and immediately said: "The row of houses here keeps sliding. Last year the row over there collapsed into the river. This row of houses, this rainy season, the waves in July hit it and it might go away."
Except for the time they sleep at night, every morning, Mrs. Phu, Mrs. Le, Mr. Duc, and other neighbors sit on the porch or gather in the yard. Their conversations revolve around the same topic: When will the house collapse, when will they receive support for relocation...
Living in insecurity, they can't do anything because the question "when will the house collapse" occupies most of their minds. A creaking sound can startle the whole neighborhood.
People here say that the problem of houses leaning has been going on for a long time, but it has never been as serious as it is now. Every year when the water rises and the house leans, they buy one or two million dong worth of trees to support it, reinforce the leaning areas, and live there for a few years. But recently, they say "it's leaning too much, it's too dangerous".
According to the people here, after recording the current situation, local officials informed that they would have to relocate, and the government would support each household with tens of millions of dong. The resettlement area is not yet known, but the new land is said to cost 250 million dong, and people said they would be supported with installment payments over many years.
The whole neighborhood is poor, they plan to stay here, help each other, and cling to each other to survive. Although it is predicted that the house will collapse during the rainy season this year, no one in the neighborhood has prepared anything.
Ms. Le said people like her only leave when their house collapses or they are evicted. If they are not evicted, they accept staying, buying several million dong worth of trees each year to reinforce it. If the house collapses, they are responsible for it.
7 houses tilted, 7 families living in insecurity. Everyone was scared, everyone wanted to be safe. They wanted to leave because they were scared, but they also wanted to stay because they were afraid of not being used to the new place.
Photo and content: Nguyen Cuong
Design: Thuy Tien
(to be continued)
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