Crossing the only road overnight to deliver relief aid to isolated people in Lao Cai
Báo Dân trí•18/09/2024
(Dan Tri) - After 12 hours of traveling from Hanoi , the Dan Tri newspaper team arrived at Viet Tien commune (Bao Yen, Lao Cai) - a place heavily affected by the recent flood, promptly giving relief supplies to the people there.
Mud rose meters high, landslides were dense.
At nearly 10 p.m. on September 16, under the dark porch where one could not see people's faces clearly, Ms. Luong Thi Doi and dozens of people in Tan Ben village (Viet Tien commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai ) stared at the road ahead. As soon as they saw the car headlights, everyone's faces lit up with joy. One person shouted loudly: "The car is here!". On September 16, hearing that the charity group of Dan Tri newspaper and readers would come to deliver gifts to support after the historic flood, Ms. Doi and the households in the village were present at noon at the village's cultural house, waiting for many hours to receive the gifts. In the condition of no lighting, lack of rice and necessities due to the severe impact of the flood, the people here are looking forward more than ever to the sharing of the community.
The road was difficult, the Dan Tri newspaper team's car departed at 10am in Hanoi but only arrived at Tan Ben village at 9:30pm, taking 12 hours to travel. Many people had been waiting since noon (Photo: Hong Anh). Viet Tien commune is located in the south of Bao Yen district, Lao Cai. The road leading from Bao Ha commune to Viet Tien commune has been seriously eroded and cannot be repaired, so the road through Lu street - National Highway 70 has become the only road. However, this road has also been eroded in many places, a large amount of rock and mud has been pulled up several meters high, completely cutting off the area from the outside. Viet Tien commune is only 7km from Phuc Khanh commune where the Lang Nu disaster occurred, killing 52 people, leaving 14 missing and 15 injured. Due to being isolated, the people of Viet Tien only learned this heartbreaking news a day or two ago. Many people were shocked to hear that their relatives and friends were also victims buried at Lang Nu. Dan Tri newspaper representative and Mr. Bui Trinh Hai (right), Chairman of Viet Tien Commune People's Committee, checked the list of people receiving relief gifts that night (Photo: Trung Kien). Immediately after Dan Tri newspaper received information about the damage in the locality, on the morning of September 16, a group of reporters quickly departed from Hanoi to Viet Tien commune, bringing with them many necessities such as rice, solar lamps, generators, necessities, etc. Due to traffic disruption, landslides and mud spilling onto the road at many points, the Dan Tri newspaper group had to take a detour, taking more than 12 hours to reach the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune. At nearly 10 p.m., the group continued to go deeper into the isolated village areas. Here, more than 90 households in Tan Ben village had been anxiously waiting for many hours. Ms. Ly Thi Giang (Tan Ben village) said that for a week, her family had been living with flickering kerosene lamps when the whole commune had its electricity cut off since September 10. Ms. Ly Thi Giang received gifts of rice, solar lamps, and flashlights. She planned to leave them at a friend's house and borrow a car to take them home 2km away the next day. (Photo: Trung Kien). The house is located at the foot of the mountain. On the night of September 8, after a loud explosion (locals call it an earth explosion), rocks and soil flooded in, burying the kitchen and part of the corner of the house. Her family had to evacuate, the rice in the house was wet, she received support from the authorities and villagers to partially fix the problem. "My family has a 20-month-old baby. Every night when it rains, I'm afraid, I don't dare to sleep. Food is running out, we can't connect to the outside world, we only dare to eat to survive, afraid that we will slowly die. I have never witnessed such a terrible flood and landslide," said Ms. Giang. People watch instructions on how to use solar lights (Photo: Trung Kien).
We are ready to wait through the night
Holding a solar lamp and 10kg of rice and cooking oil... Mrs. Ha Thi Lim, Tan Ben village, was moved to tears. Mrs. Lim said she had walked more than 2km over a hill to wait for the relief team from Dan Tri newspaper. For Mrs. Lim, these were practical items that she and many other households were "looking forward to." Mrs. Lim lives in an area deep inside Tan Ben village and has been without electricity for more than a week. While households near the commune center have had electricity restored, the area where Mrs. Lim lives is still in the dark.
Many practical gifts including battery storage devices, solar energy, and generators were given to the people (Photo: Trung Kien). In the same situation, many families living near Ms. Lim's house only had kerosene lamps for lighting. They used them sparingly because they did not store kerosene for lighting. Many families did not have time to eat early and had to burn wood stoves for light. Without electricity, they could not grind rice, some had to eat cassava. Because they were so hungry, some people even braved the rain and waded through mud to Ben Coc bridge (5km from their house) where the relief teams stopped to distribute gifts because the road was impassable due to landslides. Ms. Luong Thi Doi happily received gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper (Photo: Hong Anh). Ms. Luong Thi Doi (Tan Ben village) shared that receiving gifts made her happier than Tet. Solar lights and rechargeable flashlights are "more precious than gold" to her family at this time. "I was very touched when receiving gifts from readers, philanthropists and Dan Tri newspaper. We were given food, clothes, and lights. These are very useful gifts," Ms. Doi said. Ms. Doi and many other people said that they were ready to wait all night, hoping to receive lighting equipment for their families. Also in Viet Tien commune, on the morning of September 17, representatives of Dan Tri newspaper continued to give 130 gifts to households in Gia Thuong village, the most flooded place in Viet Tien commune in recent days. From early morning, more than 100 households were present at the commune People's Committee headquarters, bringing sacks and plastic bags to contain rice, cooking oil, etc. Many people had to walk and carry goods home because their vehicles were damaged due to flooding for many days.
People arrived early, preparing bags to receive gifts. The list of recipients was carefully checked to avoid confusion. (Photo: Hong Anh). The floodwaters rose rapidly on the night of September 10, leaving only the roof of Ha Thi Tuyet's house visible. All the furniture on the first floor was damaged. Pots and pans were swept away, the gas stove and refrigerator were broken... Ms. Tuyet did not know when life would return to normal. The gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper helped Ms. Tuyet somewhat overcome the difficulties after the floods. "When in trouble and floods, I feel more clearly the love and care of people across the country. Being able to receive gifts from benefactors in person, I am extremely grateful," Mr. Hoang Van Thang (59 years old, Gia Thuong village) shared. Mr. Phung Van Phu, Head of Gia Thuong village, said that compared to other villages in Viet Tien commune, Gia Thuong village suffered more damage because it is in a low-lying area, flooded for many days, 3 people died, 4 houses completely collapsed. Local people were very excited to receive timely relief. Three families in Gia Thuong village lost loved ones due to landslides. These families and many others received gifts from readers of Dan Tri newspaper (Photo: Trung Kien).
The gift from Dan Tri readers is very practical and helps people stabilize their lives.
In 2 days, 227 households of Gia Thuong and Tan Ben villages received 3.2 tons of rice, 2 generators, 500 units of medicine, 220 solar lamps, 220 bottles of cooking oil, 220 spice packets, 190 rechargeable flashlights, 15 boxes of medical supplies; presented to the People's Committee of the commune 1 generator, rice... Representatives of Dan Tri newspaper, on behalf of readers, visited, encouraged and supported 3 families of the commune that suffered losses, each family 5 million VND. Sharing with reporters, Mr. Bui Trinh Hai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune (Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province) said that as of 4:00 p.m. on September 16, the road to the commune had just been temporarily repaired to open to traffic.
After the traffic was restored, the people of Viet Tien commune received timely support (Photo: Ha Trang). Previously, after days of prolonged rain and floods, 100% of the villages were isolated, hundreds of houses (90%) were affected, 10 houses were buried and completely damaged; 100% of the rice and crop areas were damaged. In particular, the rain and floods killed 3 people in the commune due to landslides. In recent days, the people in the commune have been isolated and completely isolated from the outside. The only road leading to the commune was seriously eroded, and the water level rose high. The people's lives are very difficult. To have a phone signal to contact the outside for rescue, the cadres of Viet Tien commune themselves had to walk for kilometers to neighboring communes. Leaders of Viet Tien commune shared the difficulties of the locality with representatives of Dan Tri newspaper. On duty to deal with the aftermath of the storm and flood for many days, the commune chairman said his clothes were always soaked and covered in mud (Photo: Hong Anh). The Chairman of the People's Committee of Viet Tien commune was moved to say that the relief gifts from readers and Dan Tri newspaper were very meaningful and really necessary for the people in stabilizing their lives and restoring the economy . "As of September 16, Ham Rong village in the commune was still isolated and inaccessible, and electricity had only just returned to some central areas. Therefore, the people here were in great need of solar lamps, flashlights, generators... Especially, they were in great need of rice. The flood washed everything away, the rice milling machine was also broken, there was no electricity to mill the rice. Some communes used plows and harrows to mill the rice but there was no oil, they could not mill, and the rice was flooded and sprouted. We really do not know what else to say, we are very grateful to the benefactors and readers of Dan Trinewspaper . With generators, solar lamps, rice, medicine... the people are very excited, very happy and joyful. These gifts are more precious to us now than gold", Mr. Hai said.
Knowing that the relief team of Dan Tri newspaper continued to go to the flood victims in Viet Tien commune, Bao Yen, Lao Cai, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong - CEO - General Director of WinnGroup Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company went to the place to give relief supplies. The relief supplies that Mrs. Huong and her husband sent to the flood victims were 3,000 units of medicine and antiseptic solution to help people prevent and fight diseases during and after the flood. Previously, on the morning of September 12, Mrs. Huong also sent 1,000 units of medicine and medical supplies to the relief team of Dan Tri newspaper. Saving Delivery Joint Stock Company has supported a truck carrying relief goods from Dan Tri newspaper readers to the flood area.
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