Soldiers overcome hardships to help people

Early on the morning of July 31, nearly 50 officers and soldiers of Brigade 215 (Armored Corps) crossed the Lam River to reach Chan village, Tuong Duong commune, which is isolated and cut off, to help people overcome the consequences of floods. Chan village has 135 households and more than 550 people. The flood washed away the Chan bridge over the Lam River, cutting off the villagers for 10 days now. The flood rose rapidly during the night, causing more than 60 households in low-lying areas near the Lam River to be submerged in water, some places nearly 10m deep. The receding water left serious consequences for Chan village, some households were submerged in mud more than 1m thick.

Viettel Nghe An officers and employees carry necessities to fix infrastructure problems in flooded areas. Photo: HIEU AN

Immediately after arriving at the scene, Brigade 215 organized dredging of mud and soil, and clearing sewers in the area of 60 flooded households. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Ba Huyen, Deputy Political Commissar of Brigade 215, said: "Along with helping people overcome the consequences of floods, the unit closely coordinated with local authorities to organize medical examinations, consultations, health care and gifts for policy households and affected families."

During the day, Regiment 1, Division 324 (Military Region 4) coordinated with local authorities to clean up mud at Hoa Binh market. The unit helped 20 small traders clean up and rearrange their goods, and the market resumed operations. At the same time, the unit also mobilized troops to help 20 families with few people, those in especially difficult circumstances, and families with preferential policies clean up their houses.

Officers and soldiers of Regiment 764 help people dismantle houses damaged by floods.

Lieutenant Colonel Dang Van Danh, Political Commissar of Regiment 1, Division 324, shared: “There are days when the soldiers are almost exhausted. But facing the difficulties and affection of the families, the local Party Committee and government, the officers and soldiers of the unit have more motivation and strive to carry out their tasks more and more effectively. Tomorrow, we will switch from Hoa Binh market to Hoa Dong block to help people clear about 1.5km of muddy road and garbage that has accumulated for many days. In addition, we will organize Company 1 to help about 50 small traders clean and rearrange their goods to start doing business.”

Officers and soldiers of Division 324 help people clean up a giant pile of trash.

In Muong Xen commune, because the water had receded for many days, the mud had started to dry, making it difficult to use hoes and shovels to clear it. Officers and soldiers of Division 324 had to use pumps to pump water in, wait for the mud to thin out, then use hoes, shovels, and boards to push the mud out. The volume of mud was so large that the locality had to send in more machines to help soldiers clear the mud.

The difficulties did not stop there. The stench from the carcasses of livestock and poultry washed away by the floodwaters, mixed with mud, was overwhelming. The work of shoveling mud to clear the yard, clear the road, or clearing piles of tree branches to find items left after the flood for the people became even more difficult in the hot and humid weather. However, no officer or soldier was afraid of hardships or difficulties, but they all did their best to help the people.

Polluted air and contaminated water have increased the risk of disease. The 324th Division's medical staff has coordinated with local health departments to disseminate disease prevention and control measures, disinfect water sources, provide free medicine to people, and spray disinfectants...

Ensure communication, fix power grid

During the historic floods in the highland communes, the electricity and telecommunications sectors also suffered a lot of damage. However, even during the peak of the floods, officers and employees of the units remained in the area to ensure the safety of the power grid and communications. Specifically, since July 23, Viettel Telecommunications Corporation has opened roaming and telecommunications wave interconnection so that users of all networks can communicate via Viettel waves in isolated areas, meeting the needs of information, rescue and relief.

Immediately after the flood passed, officers and employees of Viettel Nghe An, together with reinforcements, urgently approached isolated areas to fix the problem. According to the unit representative, as of the afternoon of July 31, the task of repairing the infrastructure was completed, ensuring communication in areas affected by the historic flood.

Officers and employees of Nghe An Electricity Company are trying to fix the problem to provide electricity to people in flooded areas.

According to information from Nghe An Electricity Company, the historic flood caused heavy damage to the Electricity Management Team of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Anh Son, Tan Ky, Quy Chau areas. The units proactively cut off power to ensure safety as well as isolate flood-affected areas at 929 transformer stations, temporarily stopping power supply to 104,805 customers.

Immediately after the storm and flood, Nghe An Power Company mobilized all its forces and promptly established two shock teams with nearly 100 people and many equipment and tools to repair the power grid to help overcome the damage. By 5:00 p.m. on July 31, power had been restored to 900 transformer stations, and 102,702 customers had been re-energized. There were 29 transformer stations that were flooded, traffic was cut off, and people could not be reached for inspection and repair, nor had safety been ensured for people to reconnect to the power (2,103 customers had not yet been re-energized). Mr. Pham Cong Thanh, Director of Nghe An Power Company, said: "The Company's staff and employees are continuing to overcome difficulties, closely following the scene, making efforts to repair and restore infrastructure, and re-energize to serve people to soon stabilize their lives."

Group of reporters and collaborators at Military Region 4

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/nuoi-duong-van-hoa-bo-doi-cu-ho/vuot-kho-de-giup-nhan-dan-vung-lu-839525