Rebuilding life for people in disaster areas

Photo caption — Mo Bridge in Xuan Tin Commune ( Thanh Hoa ) was washed away by floods. Photo: Hoa Mai/VNA

Early investment in new bridges

Xuan Tin is one of the localities heavily affected by storm No. 10 in Thanh Hoa. With more than 21 km of dikes on Chu River and Cau Chay River, during the rainy season, the dikes in the area are often flooded, causing hundreds of hectares of crops and thousands of houses to be submerged in water.

Mo Bridge, located in Xuan Tin Commune, was built in 2017 and is a vital bridge that helps people on both sides of Cau Chay River to cross, trade goods, and students go to school conveniently. The flood in late September and early October washed away Mo Bridge and the road connecting the two bridge abutments, cutting off nearly 550 households and 300 students in villages 2, 3, 4, and 5 of Xuan Tin Commune, making travel, study, and agricultural production difficult.

Mr. Bui Van Hai, Party cell secretary of village 5, Xuan Tin commune, said that since the bridge was swept away by flood, people in neighboring communes of Tho Xuan, Yen Dinh and Ngoc Lac districts have had a hard time finding a way to get to the other side. People have to take a detour through another route nearly 10 km long to get to the commune center or to agricultural production areas along both sides of the river. It also takes students an hour to go to school because they have to go around other communes to get to school. People in the villages hope that the government will soon build a new bridge so that people can travel, exchange, trade, and children can go to school safely and conveniently.

Mr. Mai Van Linh, Vice Chairman of Xuan Tin Commune People's Committee, said that immediately after the incident, the Commune People's Committee mobilized forces to temporarily fix the problem, filled the soil to prevent overflow, spread tarps to limit erosion deep into the bank, and erected barriers and warning signs to warn people of danger.

Recently, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province has approved financial support to overcome the consequences of storm No. 10 and other natural disasters from the beginning of 2025; in which, Mo bridge (Xuan Tin commune) will be invested 70 billion VND for new construction. Accordingly, the new Mo bridge will be built with reinforced concrete, with an expected length of 150m, width of 8.5m, bridge deck of 7.5m. The approach roads at both ends of the bridge are 1,000m long, roadbed width of 7.5m, road surface width of 6.5m.

The implementation period is in the period of 2025-2026. After completion, the new Mo Bridge will not only restore the vital traffic route but also contribute to promoting agricultural production, trade and local economic development. Currently, units of the Thanh Hoa Department of Construction, the Thanh Hoa Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board and related units are implementing the steps of surveying, designing and soon constructing the new bridge for the people.

While waiting for the construction of the new bridge, the Xuan Tin commune authorities are continuing to propagate and guide people to travel safely and avoid going through the collapsed bridge area.

Relocation and resettlement for people in landslide areas

Due to the impact of storm No. 10 and its circulation, prolonged heavy rains occurred in Cam Thach commune, causing landslides in Chieng Chanh and Canh En villages, causing one house to collapse, one house to be completely buried, dozens of other houses to be partially damaged, and flooded with soil... putting 34 households/141 people in Chieng Chanh village and 13 households/55 people in Canh En village at risk of affecting life and property. Immediately after the incident, the local authorities organized the relocation/evacuation of households to safe places. At the same time, in Binh Yen village, a landslide also appeared on a low hillside with a length of about 80 m, a width of 30-50 cm, the base of the landslide was close to the walls of houses of households, posing a risk of affecting the life and property of 9 households/42 people.

More worryingly, the landslide situation in the above areas tends to continue to develop in a complex and unpredictable manner, especially when heavy rain occurs. Recently, on October 29, the Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to declare a landslide emergency in the villages of Chieng Chanh, Canh En and Binh Yen (Cam Thach commune) with measures to ensure the safety of people and property. At the same time, the People's Committee of Cam Thach commune was assigned to continue to deploy necessary measures to ensure the safety of people and property of households living in areas at risk of landslides.

As well as being on duty, closely monitoring the progress of landslides and promptly reporting to competent authorities when dangerous situations occur. Implement barriers, put up warning signs within the landslide area and inform and propagate to people and units in the area to proactively prevent, absolutely do not allow people to enter dangerous areas, especially when there is rain or flood.

Now that the storm has passed, the villagers have returned home, gradually overcoming the consequences and rebuilding their lives. However, the worries of the villagers of Chieng Chanh, Canh En, and Binh Yen are still present every day.

As a resident whose house collapsed in the landslide, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga (village 1, Chieng Chanh, Cam Thach commune) said: All of our house, property, and crops were buried. Now, even a little rain makes us feel uneasy, especially during the rainy and stormy season. I hope that the authorities and sectors will soon have a plan to overcome and thoroughly handle the landslide areas, support and arrange resettlement so that people in the disaster-affected areas like us can soon stabilize their lives.

Mr. Ha Thanh Son, Chairman of Cam Thach Commune People's Committee said: In the long term, to ensure the safety of the people, the Commune People's Committee is organizing a review and careful assessment of the current population status and the risk of landslides in Chieng Chanh, Canh En and Binh Yen villages. On that basis, we will coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Construction, Department of Finance to determine and develop a plan to arrange and stabilize the population appropriately for households in the following forms: concentrated resettlement, mixed resettlement, on-site stabilization... For cases requiring concentrated resettlement, we are also urgently searching and determining the location to build a new resettlement area for households affected by landslides, from there implementing the procedures and urgently constructing, completing, and bringing people to a new place of residence as soon as possible.

Thanh Hoa is one of the localities that is often heavily affected by natural disasters. Since the beginning of 2025, storms No. 5 and No. 10, along with prolonged floods and rains, have caused great damage to property, facilities, and essential infrastructure of the people and the State. The allocation of more than 640 billion VND in support is considered an important resource to help Thanh Hoa restore infrastructure and stabilize people's lives, especially in mountainous areas that are often affected by floods and landslides.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/tai-thiet-cuoc-song-cho-nguoi-dan-vung-thien-tai-20251111170637968.htm