Former female student from Phu Yen: "My parents swam to the neighbor's house and then lost contact"

(Dan Tri) - The last time Doan was able to contact her family was on the morning of November 19. At that time, Doan's parents reported that the water had reached half of the house, so she had to swim to a neighbor's house for shelter. Since then, she has not been able to contact her family.

On the night of November 22, just after leaving the sidewalk snail restaurant where she worked part-time, Vo Cam Doan, a first-year Marketing student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, called her parents back home.

But like hundreds of phone calls I made in the past few days, my parents' number was unreachable.

Doan marked his house in a photo of his hometown submerged in floodwater shared on social media (Photo: NVCC).

Doan's hometown is in My Thanh village, Phu Hoa 1 commune, Dak Lak province (formerly Phu Yen ). The last call Doan made to her parents was at 8:02 am on November 19. At that time, her parents climbed up high and said hurriedly: "The water is more than half of the house, my child. We have to swim to the neighbor's house to take shelter."

And since that call, it has been 5 days, the female student has not been able to call her family, not knowing how her parents are doing.

“The feeling of insecurity and helplessness is immense,” the child living far from home in the flood zone choked.

Doan shared that her family is poor and still lives in an old house that her grandparents left behind. The house had its roof blown off by storm No. 13. In the midst of this terrible flood, the girl couldn’t help but worry when she heard that storm No. 15 was about to hit again.

Doan posted a photo of his flooded hometown on a fellow countrymen's forum and marked his house - water up to the roof.

Knowing her family's difficult circumstances, in her first year, Doan started working part-time to earn money to pay for her studies and ease the burden on her parents.

In the evening, after school, Doan helps sell snails at a sidewalk restaurant for 25,000 VND/hour. In the morning, before school, she works at a mixed noodle shop near the school and is paid 23,000 VND/hour. With more than 40 hours of overtime each month, the first-year student earns 1.2 million VND.

Nuong, also a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, had a family matter and returned to her hometown in Hoa An commune, Dak Lak (formerly Phu Yen) on November 18 when the flood happened.

Stuck in the flood in her hometown, Nuong said she returned home on Tuesday morning (November 18), when it was raining heavily. On the morning of November 19, the area where she lives had a power outage, and she and her family heard the news of the flood release. At first, the water rose slowly, but by 2 p.m., the water poured in and flooded quickly, and the water rose even higher as the night went on.

Nuong's family had moved their furniture up high but it was still flooded, tables, chairs and utensils were soaked in water. For the past few days, Nuong and her parents have been staying on the second floor, cooking rice on a charcoal stove. Luckily, the family had rice and some food on hand so they were able to get by.

The photo Nuong took from upstairs shows tables, chairs, and household items submerged in water (Photo: NVCC).

The female student shared that by the early morning of November 22, the water in her home area had receded. At this time, many relief vehicles had reached the area, bringing necessities to support the people. Currently, there is no electricity and the signal is weak, so people have difficulty contacting their relatives.

Mr. Pham Thai Son, Director of the Admissions and Communications Center, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that in recent days, they have received many confidences and worries from students whose families are in the flood-affected areas of Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, and the former Binh Thuan . Many students have been in a situation where they were able to talk to their parents, but just a few hours later, they lost contact, and did not know what the situation was like in their parents' hometowns.

Right at his center, there was a case of an employee who could not contact his sister’s family in Khanh Hoa for many days. On the morning of November 22, the sisters burst into tears when they finally called each other. Almost all of the family’s belongings and assets were swept away by the floodwaters.

Mr. Son said that due to the flood situation, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade decided to launch the 2026 program to support disadvantaged students earlier, which is expected to start next December. This year, the program focuses on supporting students in areas affected by floods.

Many other universities in Ho Chi Minh City also took early action to support students in flood-affected areas as well as organize support and donations for people affected by floods.

Flooded scene in Phu Yen ward, Dak Lak - many houses were submerged up to the roof (Photo: Nam Anh).

Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics announced that it will expand the support program for students in storm and flood-affected areas issued in October to students with permanent residence in Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong.

Students will receive a 10% reduction in tuition fees for the final semester of 2025, deducted from the first semester of 2026. The deadline for paying tuition fees is extended by 2.5 months, to January 26, 2026. For graduates, the support will be transferred directly to their personal accounts.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nu-sinh-vung-phu-yen-cu-bo-me-em-boi-qua-nha-hang-xom-roi-mat-lien-lac-20251123085402866.htm