Business households in Hue look blankly at damaged goods after the flood.

Hộ kinh doanh ở Huế thẫn thờ nhìn hàng hóa thiệt hại sau lũ - Ảnh 1. — Rice submerged in flood, damage of more than 100 million VND - Photo: CHAU SA

Hundreds of businesses in Hue are struggling to get up from the thick mud, washing each item left after the flood. Some businesses have suffered losses of up to hundreds of millions of dong.

On the afternoon of October 30, the water had not yet receded from Nguyen Hue Street (Hue City). Mr. Ho Khanh My (69 years old, Thuan Hoa Ward) sat silently watching the rice warehouse filled with mud. After more than 30 years in the rice business, he never thought that one day he would have to witness dozens of tons of rice surrounded by water.

"After the historic flood in 1999, I thought this would never happen again. Who would have thought the water would rise so quickly this year," Mr. My said, his eyes still following the water mark more than a meter high on the wall.

The bags of rice placed on high shelves still could not escape. "The night the water rose, I could only stand there helplessly watching the water flood into the warehouse. The shelves could not keep up with the dozens of tons of rice. I watched every centimeter of the water rising, just praying that it would stop rising," he said.

When the flood receded, he hired people to sort it. About 8 tons of rice were damaged, and he let fish and pig farmers come and pick it up. The rest remained unclaimed, lying in the water right in front of the store. Roughly, the damage was more than 100 million VND.

kinh doanh - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Ho Khanh My was stunned when he suffered more than a hundred million dong in damage after the flood - Photo: CHAU SA

kinh doanh - Ảnh 3. — Too much rice was spoiled, Mr. My gave it to farmers but it still wasn't gone - Photo: CHAU SA

kinh doanh - Ảnh 4. — Rice stuck in mud - Photo: CHAU SA

Not only Mr. My, many businesses in the central area of Hue were also struggling after the flood. When the water receded, they began to clean up with regret. Everyone laboriously scooped up buckets of flood water, washed the floors, and picked up the remaining goods, hoping to salvage something after the days of flooding.

Mr. Huynh Ngoc Sang, owner of an electronics store on Nguyen Hue Street, recounted: "The water rose faster and higher than expected. I was far away and couldn't come back in time to clear the shelves. The water knocked down shelves and damaged a lot of goods. There are still many devices in the warehouse that are deeply flooded," he said.

According to Mr. Sang, the damage cannot be fully estimated yet, but the shop's books, documents and many machines have been completely damaged.

In Thuy Xuan ward, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (60 years old) was still shocked when recounting the night of the flood. "Every year the water only rose about 5 inches, I still had time to raise the goods. This year the water rose so fast, in just over an hour it flooded into the house, there was no time to react," she said.

Mrs. Loan’s grocery store and forestry pesticide dealer was deeply flooded, many bags, boxes of pesticides, and consumer goods were completely submerged and damaged. She estimated the damage to be several tens of millions of dong. This is not a small amount of money for a small business like hers.

After the flood, the women's association gathered together, each helping her clean up and sort the goods buried in the mud.