Yen Hoa: Danger lurks on every trip across the river by raft

Danger lurks

Early in the morning, right next to the Xop Chang bridge that collapsed after the storm, many people from Yen Hoa and Nga My communes lined up to take turns crossing the rushing water on homemade rafts.

People of Yen Hoa commune cross the rapids using bamboo rafts and homemade meters. Photo taken on the morning of October 15, 2025. Photo: Hoai Thu

Xop Chang Bridge crosses Ngan stream in Xop Chang village (old), now Yen Hop village, Yen Hoa commune. This bridge connects National Highway 48C with Yen Hoa and Nga My communes.

Mr. Vi Van Dao - a resident of Xop Kho village, Nga My commune, just crossed the stream on a bamboo raft homemade by Yen Hop villagers and said: "Standing on the raft, I had to pull the rope myself and worry that the raft would capsize, which was very scary, but I had urgent family matters so I had to risk crossing here."

Xop Chang Bridge collapsed after the flood in late September 2025. Photo: Hoai Thu

Ms. Vi Thi Hanh, who lives in Yen Hop village, also said that since the bridge collapsed, many people have had to cross here every day by raft, including many children, even though commune, village, and police officials always remind them.

Observing at Xop Chang bridge, the old bridge has completely collapsed, only 2 bridge abutments and 1 concrete pillar remain. Right next to the old bridge, the contractor is currently constructing a new bridge to replace it, but it is unfinished and a newly installed bridge girder has collapsed. Both sides of the road leading down to the raft are very steep, slippery and have high potential for landslides.

"During the recent storm and flood at Xop Chang bridge, there were two cases of people being swept away by water. We, together with the forces in the commune, not only helped people prevent storms and floods, overcome the consequences, but also arranged to be on duty to guide people across the stream and use rafts to ensure safety. However, moving by raft is only a temporary solution. If the water rises, we must stop and not let people pass through to ensure safety," said Major Vi Phuc Hieu - Head of Yen Hoa Commune Police.

On the morning of October 15, leaders of Yen Hoa commune inspected the progress of overcoming the consequences of storms and floods in Yen Hop village and Xop Chang bridge. Photo: Hoai Thu

In addition to Xop Chang bridge, in Yen Hop village, Yen Hoa commune also suffered damage to a bridge, Trung Thang bridge connecting the commune center with 3 villages: Tat village, Vang Lin village and Xop Cop village. Currently, these 3 villages are still isolated and people, students and teachers still have to cross the river by raft. There have been many cases of sudden illness requiring emergency care, fortunately thanks to the timely help of the authorities.

Urgent need to build bridges and river embankments

On the afternoon of October 14 and morning of October 15, leaders of Yen Hoa commune went to the field, held meetings with the village executive committees and collected people's opinions on plans to build temporary bridges, reinforce rafts and survey urgent locations that need to build embankments to prevent landslides in order to relocate and resettle households threatened by landslides.

Specifically, at the Xop Chang bridge, Mr. Luong Ba Vin - Secretary of the Yen Hoa Commune Party Committee directly inspected and said that the commune will increase the number of guards to guide and support people to safely cross the ravine. At the same time, they will reinforce and build more bamboo rafts and meters to make a floating bridge, and replace the cables to be more secure so that people can safely cross the ravine.

Hao village cultural house is still heavily flooded. Photo: Hoai Thu

"However, this is only a temporary solution. In the long term, the commune hopes that contractors and investors will speed up the construction progress of the rigid bridge to replace the Xop Chang bridge," said Mr. Luong Ba Vin.

At the collapsed Trung Thang bridge, Mr. Dau Duc Truyen - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said that after a meeting with the management board of the villages, on the afternoon of October 14, they agreed on the policy of building a temporary bridge and choosing a location. Starting on the afternoon of October 15, the forces and people joined hands to build a bamboo bridge, crossing the ravine, freeing the isolation of the 3 villages.

In Hao village, one of the heavily flooded areas after the flood on September 29, Ms. Vi Thi Hoa tried to salvage the remaining rice grains after the flood and said, "This area floods every time it rains, but this year there was both a storm and a flood, so my house and many other houses were flooded more than 2 meters deep, property was damaged, rice and corn were also buried, now I try to salvage the remaining rice grains, because the fields are all covered with mud."

Ms. Vi Thi Hoa was picking up flooded rice. Photo: Hoai Thu

In the house next door, Ms. Luong Thi Hong also said that luckily, thanks to the help of commune and village officials to carry belongings away from the flood, her family was able to save 4 bags of rice, a TV, and clothes so they were not swept away by the flood, but her house was flooded nearly 2 meters deep.

"I just hope that authorities and sectors will research and build bridges and embankments to prevent landslides so that people can live in peace and not worry about their houses being flooded when it rains," said Ms. Luong Thi Hong.

Not far from Mrs. Hong's house is the Hao Village Cultural House. Even after two weeks, the yard is still flooded and the mud has not been cleared away. Therefore, the cultural house is closed. If there is a need to hold a meeting, the village management board has to go to another location.

Regarding the urgent need to build river embankments to both prevent landslides and create resettlement sites for households in key areas that are frequently affected by landslides and floods, Mr. Dau Duc Truyen said that the commune has submitted a report and a submission to the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Construction on this matter. And through meetings and consultations with the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee, departments, and branches, the commune has also been guided on policies and procedures for surveying, preparing design documents, and requesting consideration from superiors.

The large area in Hao and Vang Lin villages can be resettled when embankments are built to prevent landslides. Photo: Hoai Thu

"Where the streams have been embanked on both sides, there were no landslides during the recent flood. Therefore, along Ngan stream, the section from Xieng Lip village to Hao village, if embankments are built, it will both ensure landslide prevention and have land to resettle households in areas at risk of flooding and landslides in the commune. This is a fairly large area, with a width from National Highway 48C to the stream bank of about 50m, a length of about 3km and very flat, suitable for building houses," said Mr. Dau Duc Truyen.

Clip: Hoai Thu

Source: https://baonghean.vn/yen-hoa-nguy-hiem-rinh-rap-moi-chuyen-qua-song-bang-be-mang-10308256.html