Rebuild the house, rebuild the land

Tra Tan has more than 30 large and small landslides, local authorities are doing their best to support people. Photo: XH

There are still no final statistics on the damage caused by the historic floods of the past few days. Perhaps just by observing, it is enough to see that the recent losses are immense. Rebuilding life after the floods is an issue that needs immediate attention.

Urgent support

Ms. Tao Thi To Diem - Chairwoman of Que Phuoc Commune People's Committee, from the night of October 26 to October 30, was on duty 24/7 at the Commune People's Committee headquarters. This is also a shelter for more than a thousand surrounding households.

Each package of noodles, dry food, drinking water... the people saved together to use when the flood lasted for 3 days. Meanwhile, Ms. Diem and the commune officials rushed to evacuate people in areas at high risk if the water level rose further.

Que Phuoc is almost the locality with the most flooded houses in Da Nang city if calculated based on the total number of households. More than 3,600 households in the whole commune have the same number of houses submerged in floodwater. Dong An, Binh Yen, Phu Hoa villages are isolated. The road connecting the commune center to the villages is heavily eroded. But fortunately, up to now, Que Phuoc has not suffered any human casualties.

Flooded and damaged houses cannot be estimated in a day or two. Some houses stored rice and corn for the next season, but the floodwaters rose overnight and they could not move them in time, causing total loss. Some houses raised pigs and a few cows, but when they returned from the flood, their barns were empty. But the most urgent need in the days immediately after the flood was food and drinking water for the people.

“I kept calling the members of the old Nong Son association, trying to find a way to transport relief goods to Que Phuoc people. The most important thing now is drinking water, because people here use well water to drink, and now there is no place that is not covered with mud,” said Ms. Diem.

In Tra Tan, continuous damage was reported to the commune leaders. Despite both landslides and flash floods, fortunately Tra Tan had no human casualties in this historic flood.

At Ong Thuong peak, landslides completely destroyed 11 houses. Ngoc Tu hamlet also had nearly 10 houses buried. As of the morning of October 30, Tra Tan had about 27 houses damaged by landslides.

Fortunately, the injured were taken to the emergency room in time, avoiding casualties" - said Mr. Nguyen Hong Lai - Secretary of the Party Committee of Tra Tan commune.

Currently, Tra Tan is calculating to find sources to support food, medicine for the people. Actively stocking food, drinking water and medicine but the people's needs are quite large. Not to mention, after floods and landslides, the locality will have to face epidemics due to polluted water sources and environment. Therefore, providing medicine is also one of the urgent supports for mountainous communes at this time.

Reconstruction after the flood

Low-lying areas are also deeply flooded this time, with the majority of people working in agriculture and forestry. This flood, property damage is immeasurable.

During the night, relief forces in Duy Xuyen commune still went to each isolated household to provide food and drinking water. Photo: XH

Not to mention, it is also a disruption of life. Houses, schools, and medical stations were swept away. Many places were isolated. People were worried about meals, finding land to produce crops, and repairing their houses to... continue living.

Ms. Tao Thi To Diem said that in the coming time, people need support to reproduce. Not to mention, the local transport infrastructure is currently seriously damaged. Repairing roads and rebuilding houses is the first thing to do.

During this flood, the entire Que Phuoc commune only had one community shelter. The need for more community shelters in residential areas, so that people can proactively take shelter, was realized after the flood.

Meanwhile, in the mountainous areas, Mr. Nguyen Hong Lai said that there should be geological surveys in mountainous areas in general, including Tra Tan commune, to have reasonable calculations for population arrangement. Besides, if there is an automatic natural disaster warning system installed in mountainous areas so that people can proactively evacuate, it is what many mountainous localities desire.

Immediately after the flood, local authorities simultaneously deployed many urgent measures such as food aid, environmental sanitation, disease prevention, and school repair for students to return to class soon. Relief teams and volunteer teams were also given the opportunity to hand over rice, blankets, and medicine to people in disadvantaged areas.

But reconstruction, in the true sense, is not about rebuilding what was lost, but about creating a new, safer, more sustainable foundation. Storms and floods have been a part of the Central region, but proactively living with natural disasters still requires a long-term vision of planning strategies, infrastructure construction, and investment in disadvantaged areas. That responsibility belongs to the government.

Duy Xuyen urgently stabilizes life

Mr. Dang Huu Phuc - Chairman of Duy Xuyen Commune People's Committee said that the locality has 9 villages with more than 2,500 households whose houses are flooded from 1-3m deep. As of October 30, Duy Xuyen has not recorded any human damage, however, some infrastructure works and houses are still submerged in floodwater.

To stabilize people's lives soon, Duy Xuyen commune authorities have been focusing human and material resources to urgently overcome the consequences of the flood. In particular, the commune has also conducted a review of vulnerable locations and landslide areas to have timely solutions. For severely damaged structures, Duy Xuyen commune has promptly proposed to the city to allocate resources to handle them as soon as possible.

PHI THANH

Source: https://baodanang.vn/dung-lai-nha-dung-lai-dat-3308932.html