Central region floods again

While the floodwaters have not yet receded, people in the Central region are scrambling to cope with storm No. 13 approaching the East Sea. The anxiety is even greater as the mountains are already “full of water”, with the risk of landslides and huge damage if the storm hits.

Flood after flood

On the evening of November 2 and early morning of November 3, floods in Da Nang and Hue exceeded the level 3 warning, submerging many villages and urban areas. In Hoi An (Da Nang City), the Hoai River rose again, many roads were heavily flooded, and people urgently packed up their belongings and moved tourists to safety. This is the second time in a week that Hoi An has had to "flood".

In the mountainous region of Tay Giang, heavy rains and floods lasting for 5 days and 5 nights caused serious landslides, destroyed transportation, electricity, and telecommunications infrastructure, and isolated many areas. Mr. Bling Mia, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tay Giang commune, proposed that the city support the route opening, supply of gasoline, food; allow the use of the vacant central agency headquarters as a place to evacuate people and build a warehouse to store necessities. The leaders of Tra Leng commune requested to be equipped with specialized water vehicles and generators for use in case of isolation by floods.

In A Vuong commune, many roads are still eroded and cut off. Mr. Briu Quan, Chairman of A Vuong Commune People's Committee, said that many locations have been isolated for many days, rice and gasoline are almost exhausted; the commune requested emergency support of 54 tons of rice and satellite communication equipment. Meanwhile, Thu Bon commune is completely isolated, emergency work faces many obstacles when both roads to Nong Son and Dai Loc are cut off by floods. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a forward command post in Dai Loc to provide timely support and rescue.

Police urgently evacuated people in low-lying areas of Phu Xuan ward, Hue city to avoid floods. Photo: VAN THANG

By the afternoon of November 3, the entire city of Hue had about 28,000 houses in 32/40 communes and wards deeply flooded; many traffic routes were severely damaged. Looking at the torrential water pouring into his house, Mr. Nguyen Khang (residing in Vy Da ward, Hue city) sadly said: "The flood has not yet dried, the mud has just been cleared and then there is a new flood. We are very exhausted."

At noon of the same day, the Hue City Military Command mobilized dozens of officers and soldiers of the Defense Command of Area 1 - Huong Tra to urgently evacuate hundreds of people in the downstream area of ​​Bo River, mainly the elderly and children, to safe shelters. The Huong Tra Ward Police also mobilized specialized forces to overcome the flood to rescue Ms. Hoang Thi Noan (a lonely elderly person injured in a flooded house) and 10 other people from the danger zone.

Landslides in many places

In the highland communes and border areas of Da Nang City, the phenomenon of “mountain flows and landslides” appears everywhere, threatening life and infrastructure. At Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Tra Linh Commune), many places have cracked walls, sunken foundations, broken fences, and are in danger of collapsing at any time.

Teachers and parents had to urgently move desks, chairs, and school supplies across a 3km landslide to the commune's cultural area to ensure safety. Mr. Nguyen Tran Vy, the school's principal, said that 34 first and second graders were transferred to the main school in village 2, where two more classes were opened and a boarding area was arranged for them to continue studying.

In Ngu Hanh Son ward (Da Nang), a "death hole" about 4m deep suddenly appeared in the middle of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street. The authorities immediately blocked off the scene, put up warning signs and regulated traffic. On the same morning, at Ong Da stream (Thuong Duc commune, Da Nang), a landslide several kilometers long buried NQB (40 years old) while he was tending cattle on the field. The rescue team had to spend many hours in the forest and digging to find the victim's body.

Military and people of Duy Nghia commune (Da Nang city) overcome landslides on An Luong embankment. Photo: NGUYEN CUONG

Meanwhile, in Duy Nghia commune (Da Nang city), more than 1,000 people and hundreds of officers and soldiers of Military Region 5 are still on duty day and night to reinforce the An Luong embankment which was heavily eroded after storm No. 12. The erosion point is nearly 1km long, threatening more than 300 coastal households. After nearly a week of urgent work, the repair work has been basically completed, and no new erosion has been recorded.

Colonel Tran Huu Ich, Commander of the Da Nang City Military Command, directly inspected the scene and requested units to coordinate with Division 315 and local authorities to mobilize human resources, materials, and equipment to reinforce the embankment and protect people's safety.

Mr. Nguyen Ha Nam, Director of the Da Nang Department of Construction, said the city has issued an emergency situation to proactively overcome infrastructure damage. Currently, there are 7 national highways and 20 provincial roads with landslides, of which the most serious are National Highway 14G, Provincial Road 606 and National Highway 40B. Forces and contractors have been mobilized to clear the route, temporarily opening a lane for people's lives and rescue. The city urgently provided 6.6 billion VND for immediate handling, while infrastructure damage is estimated at about 190 billion VND. The Department of Construction proposed an additional 80-100 billion VND for surveying, designing, reinforcing and replacing the washed-out structures, ensuring long-term traffic.

At the same time, in Ha Tinh, prolonged heavy rains caused thousands of cubic meters of rock and soil from Ru Rac Mountain (Cam Trung Commune) to slide down, spreading hundreds of meters, affecting about 2 hectares of residential land. Although there were no human casualties, this "mountain slide" damaged many constructions and crops of the people.

Overcoming floods, students return to school

In Nam Tra My commune (Da Nang city), from early morning, many teachers of Kim Dong Primary School waded through mud and landslides to Tra Mai and Tak Lu villages to pick up students safely to class. In remote areas, parents had to walk their children for nearly half an hour to the meeting point, then teachers used motorbikes to take them to class.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Vice Principal of the school, after the break due to the floods, about 80% of the students have returned to school. The school has 5 campuses with 23 classes and 645 students, and traffic is still cut off in many places. During the floods, most of the teachers stayed at school; when the weather stabilized, 9 teachers from the plains returned to teach. The school flexibly arranged the timetable, sent teachers to landslide villages to pick up students, and ensured a suitable curriculum when the area was about to be affected by storm No. 13.

On November 3, Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Nang City Pham Duc An signed a decision to allocate 210 billion VND from the city budget to support 72 communes and wards to overcome damage and help people stabilize their lives soon.

In Thua Thien - Hue, many agencies and schools also urgently supported people and students to overcome difficulties. The University of Economics - Hue University supported 100,000 VND/student and 500,000 VND/lecturer and employee (total cost of more than 1.1 billion VND). The University of Foreign Languages ​​- Hue University donated 200,000 VND/student, expected to complete payment before November 5. On the same day, the People's Committee of Hue City received 500 million VND in support from Vietnam National Shipping Lines; Bitexco Group supported 200 million VND, 10,000 gifts and 10 tons of rice to help the city overcome the consequences of floods.

XUAN QUYNH - VAN THANG - DUONG QUANG - PHAM NGA - NGUYEN CUONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/mien-trung-lai-chay-lu-post821553.html