Worries in the Village of Twilight

Standing on Phong Du Thuong bridge and looking towards the landslide area, one can truly appreciate the horrific devastation caused by the floodwaters. Houses stand precariously with their foundations exposed; pebbles, gabion retaining walls, concrete blocks... lie scattered everywhere. The concrete road is cracked and broken, leaving bare earthen banks vulnerable to further landslides during any subsequent rainfall.

“This flood is more severe than Typhoon No. 3 in 2024. The Ngoi Hut stream has widened by tens of meters, and even though many households proactively built stone gabion embankments and poured concrete, everything was still swept away!” - Mr. Hoang Van Khoa, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phong Du Thuong commune, shared as he led us to inspect the damage.

Rising floodwaters swept away structures and eroded building foundations.

According to local residents, prolonged heavy rains caused by the remnants of Typhoon No. 10 caused the Ngòi Hút stream to overflow by 4-5 meters, creating a terrifying sound of rushing water and rolling rocks. The entire area of land, houses, outbuildings such as barns, toilets, trees, and livestock belonging to 33 households were swept away from the ground and carried along by the muddy water. The land, stone embankments, and concrete retaining walls were torn apart, with large sections of the slope collapsing like wounds in the heart of the village.

Floodwaters created gaps in the concrete road, creating "frog's mouth"-like cracks.

People's property was buried under the rubble.

Upon receiving warnings about the flooding situation, the Phong Du Thuong commune authorities activated their disaster prevention plan. Mr. Hoang Van Khoa, Vice Chairman of the commune's People's Committee, stated: “We proactively assessed high-risk areas and organized the emergency relocation of all 33 households to safe locations before the flood arrived. Thanks to this, although property damage was significant, we are very relieved that there were no casualties. After the flood receded, we implemented measures to help people stabilize their lives.”

Immediately after the floodwaters receded, local rescue teams helped families build temporary embankments to reinforce their house foundations.

Having lived by the Ngoi Hut stream for over 10 years and witnessed many major floods, Hoang Van Tuan is still shaken: "I've never seen a flood this big. Since that day, whenever we hear it's going to rain, my family prepares for evacuation."

Having saved up and worked hard to build a two-story house worth over 1.4 billion VND since 2022, and then investing an additional 70 million VND to reinforce the land with a concrete embankment, in just a few hours, the entire outbuilding and the seemingly solid concrete wall were swept away by the flood, leaving only the foundation exposed. To prevent the house from collapsing, immediately after the flood receded, with the support of the village and commune rescue forces, Mr. Bui Van Hung's family had to invest another 30 million VND to pour concrete for a temporary embankment. He mused, "To protect our property, despite the difficulties, we are trying our best to overcome the damage, but I don't know if the temporary embankment will withstand further heavy rain and flooding."

Mr. Bui Van Hung recounts the historic flood.

According to statistics from the People's Committee of Phong Du Thuong commune, the flood caused by the remnants of Typhoon No. 10 has caused serious damage to infrastructure, houses, and agricultural production in the commune. Specifically in Lang Chang village, many points along the Gia Hoi - Dong An road suffered large-scale landslides; 500 meters of the concrete ring road around the center area cracked and collapsed; 300 meters of gabion retaining walls were completely washed away; 5.6 hectares of rice paddies, nearly 2,000 square meters of fish ponds, and 370 poultry were swept away. In particular, 33 households were affected by landslides on the embankment, facing the risk of losing their homes.

The material damage caused by the storms and floods can be measured, but the emotional losses are difficult to describe. Ms. Tran Thi Thieu choked back tears: “My family lost our house and toilet to the flood, suffering hundreds of millions of dong in losses. I don’t know when I’ll dare to repair the house again. Living without knowing what tomorrow will bring is truly exhausting. Now, every time it rains heavily, the whole family doesn’t dare to sleep, just worrying about the water rising unexpectedly.”

Ms. Tran Thi Thieu with the remaining possessions after the historic flood.

Nearly a month after the historic flood, the people of Lang Chang village are gradually returning to their daily lives. Amidst the ruins, they are still trying to recover, but their eyes still clearly show worry: will they still have a home to return to tomorrow when natural disasters are becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable? "We earnestly hope the government will have a plan to build embankments to protect people's property and lives," suggested Ms. Tran Thi Thieu.

Mr. Mai Van Nam, head of Lang Chang village, said: “Just one more major flood and the houses of the villagers here will likely be destroyed, and 3 hectares of rice fields and the entire infrastructure of the commune center will be threatened. We hope that the authorities at all levels will soon pay attention to investing in the construction of a solid embankment system to protect the lives and property of the people and the State.”

Through research, it is known that in addition to implementing immediate solutions to overcome the consequences of storms and floods and stabilize people's lives, the Phong Du Thuong commune government has made proposals to the province to invest in building embankments so that local households can have a more stable and safe life.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/noi-lo-o-lang-chang-post885128.html