The moments of life and death
At the communal house yard, where people were receiving relief gifts, Mr. Pi Nang Anh Linh - Head of Bac Ray 1 village recounted the terrifying moment: "At around 3 pm on November 19, people heard the sound of rocks rolling on the mountainside. At first, it was just sporadic, everyone thought that heavy rain had caused rocks and soil to slide down. But my intuition told me something was wrong, so I ran to call each house and told people to carry their children, bring necessary documents and then go to the communal house to take shelter."
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| Resettlement area for landslide area in Bac Ray 1 village, Bac Ai Tay commune. |
The initial small noise was just a sign of disaster. "More than an hour later, a loud explosion rang out from the top of the mountain, rocks and soil fell down. People abandoned everything and ran for their lives. At about 1 a.m. the next morning, the strongest landslide hit, burying houses at the foot of the mountain in an instant. Luckily, everyone had been evacuated in advance; if it had been a moment later, it would have been unimaginable..." - Mr. Linh said, his eyes still shining with fear.
Pointing to the households lining up to receive gifts, Mr. Linh confided: "The families of Mr. Cao Tien, Cao Trieu, Pupur Den or Mrs. Chamaléa Ka all lost their homes, only having time to hold their children and run amid the rumbling sound of rocks and earth. What people want most now is to have a new, safe place to live, so that every rain is no longer a constant fear."
Emergency response
In Bac Ray 1 village, 9 households had their houses collapsed or were swept away by floodwaters; 22 other households living in dangerous areas had to be urgently evacuated. Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyen - Chairman of Bac Ai Tay Commune People's Committee said: "As soon as we received the news, the commune activated an emergency response plan. Militia forces, commune police, and village officials worked overnight to evacuate people from dangerous areas, arranging temporary shelters at community houses and safe households. On November 21, the locality continued to organize the evacuation of all 3 residential clusters in high-risk areas, absolutely not allowing people to return home when the weather was still heavy rain; necessities such as rice, drinking water, blankets, life jackets... were distributed fully and promptly".
During the rainy and flood days, provincial leaders were constantly present at the commune, directly wading and crossing streams to the village to inspect the scene and direct the overcoming of consequences. At the inspection session at the end of November, comrade Tran Phong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested that people not be allowed to return to dangerous areas for any reason; urgently clear traffic routes to ensure access to relief; speed up the progress of surveying new resettlement sites, prioritizing arrangements for all households that lost their homes and households at high risk of landslides; mobilize provincial resources, integrate target programs to support people to soon stabilize their lives.
The timely presence of provincial leaders helped to resolve many difficulties in human resources and logistics, while also reassuring people's spirits in the face of unprecedented events.
People hope to settle down soon
Faced with the risk of insecurity in the residential area of Bac Ray 1 village, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board to be the investor of the resettlement project of Bac Ray 1 (Bac Ai Tay commune). Based on the survey of terrain, geology and current population status, the unit urgently completed the design documents and master plan of the subdivision with the criteria: Flat, far from the foot of the mountain, ensuring safety, convenient arrangement of traffic infrastructure, electricity, water, public works.
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| Many houses in Bac Ray 1 village collapsed after the flood. |
The representative of the Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board affirmed that they will mobilize maximum human resources and equipment, closely coordinate with localities to complete construction on schedule, meeting the requirements of safety, sustainability, and long-term stability for people after natural disasters.
Mr. Pupur Den - one of the households with a house at the foot of the mountain, shared: "We just hope to have a safe place to live. If we lose our house, we can rebuild it, but the fear every time it rains makes it impossible to live like this forever."
The landslide in Bac Ray 1 village is a warning about the extreme nature of the weather in 2025. But in the midst of the disaster, the spirit of solidarity between the government - rescue forces - people has been affirmed. The journey ahead still has a lot of work to do, but the first foundations of the new resettlement area have lit up hope: people will soon return to a peaceful life.
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Phong requested: The project of Bac Ray 1 Resettlement Area must be started in December 2025, creating conditions for arranging new accommodation for all households that lost their houses and households at high risk of relocation before the rainy season next year. The planning of the resettlement area must be designed synchronously, ensuring land fund for housing, traffic infrastructure, drainage system, community living area and essential infrastructure items.
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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/xa-hoi/202512/khan-truong-tai-dinh-cu-cho-thon-bac-ray-1-c902d2c/
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