Thirsty area... flooded

He spoke in one breath, as if the flood that occurred on the evening of December 3rd had caused him a lot of thoughts and now someone suddenly asked about it. That was also the reason why he went to see the flood with everyone. As for us, we could not go to village 3, which was isolated by floodwaters, because the road was eroded…

Flooded National Highway 1A near Bang Lang Bridge. Photo: N. Lan

The flood of more than 30 years

At 4:00 p.m. on December 4, in the area near Ong Tam bridge on National Highway 1A, in village 1, Hong Son commune, Lam Dong province, the traffic was mainly cars and motorbikes that had to go in the opposite direction, even though when exiting the Ta Zon intersection checkpoint, the police informed: "Flood water is rising at the Gop intersection, so follow Provincial Road 715 to get back to National Highway 1A at Luong Son intersection." For those who had to go to Hong Son commune, they had to go, and when they arrived, they saw the water flowing rapidly, and there was no place to turn to go the right way, so they had to go in the opposite direction. We also planned to do so, but because we wanted to go into the flooded area to grasp the situation and take pictures, the leaders of Hong Son commune sent a 2-wheel drive vehicle. We were sure that we could get through the rushing water, even though the hard median strip in the middle of the road was torn apart by the floodwaters from the night of December 3 to the morning of December 4.

At 10:30 p.m. on December 3, in group 1, Liem Binh village, the first place to receive water from the branch canal of canal 812 - Chau Ta, the project to transfer water from Song Luy lake (old Bac Binh district) to Song Quao lake (old Ham Thuan Bac district), was flooded first. Fortunately, the people here had evacuated in the afternoon, because they had experience from the floods on October 28 and November 2. Then, the heavy rain continued all night, the water rose quickly, flooding 10 villages, which was also the time when the commune evacuated people in the flooded area to a safe place. At 4 a.m., with the additional help of the military , the provincial police, canoes and jet skis from organizations in Phan Thiet, Hong Son completed the evacuation of more than 600 households to safety. There were no human casualties.

Fruit and vegetable gardens in village 2, Hong Son commune are deeply submerged in water. Photo: N. Lan

At 5:00 p.m. on December 4, at the commune headquarters, along the way, we saw places providing free food and water. Our car was about to enter the center of the flooded area in villages 1, 2, and 3. Seeing that, a charity group from Phan Thiet came to ask us to send food and water to the people there, because they were worried that their car would not be able to enter. Hopefully, our high-chassis vehicle could cross the raging water. Indeed, the deeper we went, the whiter the water was, all around us there was only the sound of the flood, even though it was sunny. The scene showed that the water had knocked down gates, ripped off doors of houses, climbed coconut trees... The houses on high ground in village 2 were not moved. People were gathering to watch the water like they were at a festival. It seemed that everyone's facial expressions were normal, without any signs of worry or fear as is often seen in flooded areas.

“Sir, is our house flooded?”, I started talking to the oldest person, named Tran Thi Sang in village 2. “No, how could there be a flood here? I am 80 years old and have never seen a flood like this before. Well, there have been some, but not many, since the government has not built this road. It has been more than 30 years since there has been such a big flood here,” she said in one breath, as if the flood that happened on the evening of December 3rd had made her think a lot and now someone suddenly asked about it. That was also the reason why she went to see the flood with everyone. As for us, we could not go to village 3, which was isolated by floodwaters, because the road had collapsed...

Water flows into people's houses like a waterfall. Photo: N. Lan

Unexpected answer

Not only Mr. Sang wondered, but anyone who knows about the Hong Son and Hong Liem areas (currently merged into Hong Son commune), which is considered the buffer zone of Le area, knows that this is a thirsty area. But now there is a flood, a historic flood, when vaguely realizing that this place has never had a memorable flood. In fact, in the commune, there is no river or stream called. "The commune has built a preliminary map analyzing the path of flood water, showing that when it rains heavily, streams and rivers not in the commune's area have poured water into canal 812 - Chau Ta and then overflowed into the commune, causing sudden flooding", Mr. Nguyen Linh Chon - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hong Son commune, still listless after a night with the cadres taking care of flood avoidance for the people said. In the mind of the head of this commune, it is understandable that the flood story is always unexpected, the thirsty area is flooded. The commune is still ready to guard the flood on the spot, not being negligent every time it rains, but the surprise this time is that the flood rose unexpectedly fast, as if there was a large river flowing through the area, combined with the discharge of floodwater from the irrigation lake above, along with rising tides at sea.

Flooded National Highway 1A, Ong Tam Bridge section. Photo: N. Lan

But in reality, there is none. In Hong Son commune, there is only Suoi Da lake with a capacity of 9 million m ³ ; this time there is also a flood discharge of 15 m ³ / s, which is not the main factor. There is Can river originating from another place into the commune through Bang Lang bridge and then integrating with streams flowing from sand dunes, through old Ham Duc, converging with 2 other small rivers and streams, before flowing into Cai river - Phu Long (Ham Thang ward) to the sea. The name of the river itself can imagine the water situation in the dry season. But in the rainy season, with such a connected flow and especially in the situation of heavy rain, everywhere like the night of December 3, the flow of Can river naturally flows to Cai river below. But at this time, Cai river is full, when Quao river lake continuously discharges flood water during the night of December 3 to December 4, with a discharge flow of 300 - 600 m ³ / s. From here, the water of Can River had no way out, it rose up and flooded both banks. This was considered as the second pincer, besides the first pincer was the amount of water from rivers and streams overflowing through the 812 - Chau Ta canal, causing Hong Son commune to be heavily flooded, water overflowing National Highway 1A. The estimated damage to roads, crops, and livestock as of 9am on December 5 was 9 billion VND.

So, who is not surprised by the situation that the flood has created in Hong Son, when this is a long-thirsty area? Remember, when the 812 - Chau Ta canal to transfer water between districts was completed in 2010, the commune had a branch canal to transfer water to the fields. Thanks to that, the whole commune produces 1,330 hectares of rice/3 crops and 771 hectares of dragon fruit, mainly on the other side of National Highway 1A. On this side of National Highway 1A, Hong Son commune is estimated to have about 2,000 hectares, of which some produce one crop, thanks to water from sand dunes and rainwater. The commune is proposing to build an irrigation project to transfer water to this area to open up opportunities for diverse economic development, especially tourism services, when it is located next to a famous national tourist area.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/vung-khat-ngap-lut-408471.html