Flooding in… flood-resistant residential areas.

Floodwaters in the flood-prone residential area along the Ba Voi River. Photo: CAM TU

According to many residents in the flood-prone residential area along the Ba Voi River, just one heavy rain or high tide is enough to cause flooding in their homes and on the roads, significantly impacting their daily lives and transportation. Unable to bear the flooding, many households have locked their doors and moved elsewhere. Mr. Nguyen Van Suong, 76 years old, said: “At times, the water level reached almost knee-deep. It was so difficult for the children going to school; parents had to wade through the water carrying their children, and the elderly kept tripping and falling. The high tides flooded houses, damaging belongings and bringing with them a lot of garbage, creating a very unpleasant smell. The water would flood, then recede, then flood again, continuously for a long time, causing immense hardship for the residents.”

According to Ly Khai Dan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Hoa Hung commune, the commune has 4 flood-prone residential clusters with a total of 1,025 land plots, including 631 policy-based plots. Currently, 3 residential clusters are frequently flooded, causing damage to people's houses and roads within the clusters. Surveys show that the flood level fluctuates from 0.3 to 0.5 meters, sometimes reaching 0.7 meters. This is due to some residential clusters being located in low-lying areas, near canals and ditches, making them vulnerable to rising water levels. The existing drainage system is small, low, and drains water slowly, with many severely damaged sections. When tidal water levels and rainfall increase, the old design exceeds its load capacity.

The majority of residents in flood-prone areas are poor, near-poor, or from families receiving government assistance, and therefore lack the funds to raise their house foundations. They are forced to accept "living with the floods" or temporarily seek shelter with relatives whenever flooding occurs. This localized flooding has been a recurring problem for many years, causing significant inconvenience to residents' lives. Waste and stagnant water create unsanitary conditions, posing a risk of disease outbreaks, affecting health, and deteriorating transportation infrastructure.

To address this situation, the People's Committee of Vinh Hoa Hung commune requests that provincial departments and agencies pay attention and provide policies or investment capital to upgrade the drainage system and roads, and to install fixed pumping stations at locations where water drains slowly, supporting the commune in proactively pumping out water when it rises rapidly. At the same time, they propose installing additional regulating sluices with sluice gates to control water levels during the rainy and flood seasons, helping residents avoid prolonged flooding.

Currently, although the flooding is less severe than it was a few months ago, residents living in the flood-resistant residential clusters of Vinh Hoa Hung commune still worry and are fed up with the rising water levels. They hope that the authorities will pay attention and address this situation. Ms. Phung Thi Hau, a resident of the Bo Dua flood-resistant residential cluster, expressed: “The flooding situation worsens every year, causing anxiety and insecurity among the people. My house recently had a water barrier built, but it still floods. We earnestly hope that the province will pay attention and resolve these difficulties so that people can suffer less, settle down, and have stable lives, in accordance with the government 's policy of building flood-resistant residential clusters.”

CAM TU

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ngap-o-cum-dan-cu-vuot-lu-a471148.html