Flood after flood, difficulty after difficulty

On the afternoon of October 29, heavy rains and the release of floodwaters from upstream reservoirs caused the downstream areas of Hue and Da Nang to be deeply flooded again. Difficulties piled up as people's food reserves were gradually depleted.

Morning water recedes, afternoon flood again

On the morning of October 29, the floodwaters on the Perfume River receded slowly, and people rushed to buy medicine and necessities. However, in the afternoon of the same day, heavy rains upstream caused hydroelectric and irrigation reservoirs to freely discharge large volumes of water, causing 32/40 wards and communes in Hue City to be flooded again. All roads from the center of Hoa Chau Ward (Hue City) to the residential groups of Quan Hoa, Van Quat Dong, Thuan Hoa, etc. were cut off by floods.

The entire Hoi An Ancient Town area ( Da Nang City) was heavily flooded. Photo: NGUYEN CUONG

According to Secretary of the Hoa Chau Ward Party Committee Tran Ngoc Duong, since the circulation of storm No. 12, the entire ward has been surrounded by floodwaters on all sides. The Party Committee and People's Council headquarters are more than 2 meters deep. People here are in extreme poverty. The most valuable assets of farmers have been damaged or swept away by floodwaters. If the flood continues and the water level continues to rise, difficulties will pile up, and food is running out.

In Da Nang, from noon on October 29, communes downstream of the Vu Gia - Thu Bon River such as Thuong Duc, Dai Loc, Nong Son... had heavy rain, causing floods to rise again. Ms. Truong Thi Nhu Y (residing in Nghia Trung village, Dai Loc commune) said that the flood receded in the morning, then rose quickly again at noon and was even higher than before. Currently, Da Nang City has 10 communes completely isolated by floods, 29 communes with more than 66,800 houses flooded by floods. Doctor Nguyen Tai, Director of Quang Nam Regional General Hospital, said that patients and their families are currently facing difficulties with food and clean water due to floods surrounding the hospital. The flood water is nearly 2m deep, flowing rapidly, higher than the historical flood peak in 1999, so the supply is facing many difficulties.

In the Old Quarter of An Tay (Dien Ban Dong Ward, Da Nang City), prolonged heavy rains caused the water level to rise 3-4m, isolating many households over the past two days. Ms. Nguyen Thu (54 years old, resident of Dien Ban Dong Ward) shared that as the water level rose, people had to clean up and move their belongings to higher ground, but everyone was worried because the rain had not stopped, and daily life was almost paralyzed.

On the afternoon of October 29, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned that around the evening and night of October 30, cold air will begin to affect the Northeast region, then spread to the North Central, Northwest and Central Central regions.

From October 30 to November 1, due to the combination of cold air and East wind disturbances, the Northeast region will have scattered rain. From the night of November 1, the North and North Central regions will have cold nights and mornings, and cold weather in mountainous areas. Notably, due to the influence of East wind disturbances at high altitudes, combined with strengthening cold air, the area from Thanh Hoa to Northern Quang Tri is likely to have moderate rain, heavy rain, and locally very heavy rain.

Use rope to supply people

On October 29, the People's Committee of Hoa Xuan Ward (Da Nang City) coordinated with armed forces to urgently evacuate dozens of households in the deep flooded area of ​​Tay An residential group. Mr. Le Cong Dong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Xuan Ward, said that they mobilized forces to coordinate with the police and army to use specialized vehicles to support the people.

Da Nang City's armed forces transport essential supplies to Quang Nam Regional General Hospital, which is surrounded by floods. Photo: NGUYEN CUONG

In Thanh An village (Dien Ban Tay commune, Da Nang city), more than 200 households were isolated. People could only use boats and canoes to go to the main road to buy food, water and medicine to store for the coming days. On the morning of October 29, in Tan Hiep village (Tra My commune), the rising water level left 8 households with more than 40 people unable to evacuate in time and isolated. The Defense Command of Area 3 - Tra My used a flycam to transport necessities to the isolated area. On the same day, the Hong Van Border Guard Station (Hue City Border Guard) used large tree roots to install a rope and pulley system and then transported relief supplies to the isolated people of Ta Lo A Ho village, A Luoi 1 commune.

On the same day, Mr. Phan Thien Dinh, Chairman of Hue City People's Committee, said that he had sent a document requesting the Prime Minister to consider supporting funding for emergency treatment of traffic works, irrigation works, dykes, and coastal embankments. Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee requested the Government to consider providing the province with 5,000 tons of rice, 10,000 boxes of instant noodles, 2 tons of dry food; 5,000 kg of Chloramine B powder, 50,000 Aquatabs tablets... to organize medical examinations for people; disinfect, treat environmental pollution in flooded areas, and prevent epidemics for people. At the same time, provide this locality with 200 billion VND in emergency support to repair traffic and irrigation works, clean water for daily life that have been eroded, washed away, broken canals, water pipes, and overcome landslides, mountains...

Lo Xo Pass continues to have landslides

On October 29, Mr. Nguyen Thuc Phuoc Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Binh Commune (Lam Dong Province) said that due to prolonged heavy rain, rising floodwaters inundated the Bac Binh Water Plant (Bac Binh Water Supply Branch, Binh Thuan Water Supply and Drainage Joint Stock Company), causing thousands of households to lose water for daily use. The company representative informed that they had sent forces to fix the problem and would try to restore water supply on October 30.

On October 29, in the western communes of Quang Ngai province such as Ngoc Linh, Xop, Mang Ri, Dak Plo, Dak Pek... there was prolonged heavy rain, causing many serious landslides, cutting off traffic. Ho Chi Minh Highway section through Lo Xo Pass, Quang Ngai province (from Dak Pek to Dak Che waterfall) appeared 4 new landslides, rocks and soil buried the road surface, paralyzing traffic. Therefore, the supply for more than 50 drivers trapped at the previous landslide point was interrupted. By the afternoon of October 29, Ho Chi Minh Highway through Lo Xo Pass, connecting Quang Ngai to Da Nang City was still cut off for the fourth consecutive day. In Ngoc Linh commune (Quang Ngai province), 5 villages including Ngoc Nang, Mo Po, Xa Ua, Ngoc Lang and Tu Rang are still isolated due to landslides, making people's lives difficult. The government opened a trail over the hill to access and supply.

Since the evening of October 28, landslides have occurred continuously on National Highway 20 through D'ran Pass, Xuan Truong Ward - Da Lat (connecting Lam Dong Province with Khanh Hoa Province), causing traffic disruption. By the afternoon of October 29, authorities continued to ban vehicles from passing through, diverting traffic in other directions through Prenn Pass and Mimosa (more than 20km away) to ensure safety.

Emergency support of 350 billion VND for Hue City, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai

On October 29, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired an urgent online meeting with several central localities on response and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and floods.

Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister directed local Party committees and authorities to use all means to provide supplies to people in deeply flooded, isolated and landslide-prone areas. Localities should review and propose if they need support with rice, food, dry food, etc. In the immediate future, the Central Government will immediately support 2 tons of dry food for Hue City and Military Region 5 to transport to people in deeply flooded and isolated areas. The Ministry of National Defense, Military Region 5, and the police force will mobilize forces and vehicles such as boats, canoes, etc. for disaster prevention work. The Prime Minister also requested to calculate plans to overcome the consequences and restore activities immediately after the flood recedes, especially classrooms, schools and medical facilities, so that children do not lack places to study, sick people do not lack places to be treated, and people do not lack food, clothing, or suffer from hunger and rags.

On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed a decision to provide emergency support of VND350 billion from the central budget reserve for Hue City, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai provinces to overcome damage caused by floods.

On the morning of October 29, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha inspected the work of overcoming the consequences of landslides that caused traffic congestion on the La Son - Hoa Lien Expressway, passing through Nam Dong Commune, Hue City. The Deputy Prime Minister requested relevant units to review the design, materials, and construction structure to ensure long-term safety on the entire expressway. At noon the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired an urgent meeting with leaders of Da Nang City. At the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the highest priority is to ensure absolute safety for people's lives. Localities must absolutely not be subjective or negligent, must proactively take all response plans, especially in areas at risk of deep flooding and landslides; mobilize the entire political system to respond to all natural disaster situations.

PV GROUP

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/lu-chong-lu-kho-khan-chong-chat-post820696.html