People in Central Vietnam were moved to receive money to re-roof their houses after storm Bualoi.

Bà con miền Trung xúc động nhận tiền lợp lại mái nhà sau bão Bualoi - Ảnh 1. — Ms. Nguyen Ny Huong, Secretary of Ha Tinh Provincial Youth Union, gives support to the family of Vo Van Phat, a student at Thach Thang Primary School, Thach Lac Commune, Ha Tinh, whose roof was blown off - Photo: DANG ANH

On the afternoon of September 29, Tuoi Tre newspaper coordinated with the Youth Union of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces to provide emergency aid to 10 households that suffered heavy damage due to storm Bualoi.

The coastal village of Nghi Hoa, Cua Lo Ward, Nghe An Province - which bore the brunt of the storm when storm No. 10 made landfall - is still littered with rubble, broken trees, and many roads cut off by flooding. Traces of the fierce storm are still evident on the roofs of houses that are no longer intact.

When we arrived at her house, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ha (48 years old) was rummaging through the pile of broken bricks and stones to find some of her belongings that were left after the storm. Her face showed obvious fatigue after a sleepless night. Mrs. Ha said that her husband was away on a business trip, and on the evening of September 29, the mother and child were sleeping in the house when the storm hit.

"At 3 a.m., the wind howled continuously, tearing the roof off. The concrete layer above collapsed, and the mother and child ran down to the kitchen to escape," said Mrs. Ha.

Luckily, she survived, but the house that was her family's home now has only four bare walls. Heavy rain continued to fall after the storm, so the mother and child had to go to a neighbor's house for shelter.

Bà con miền Trung xúc động nhận tiền lợp lại mái nhà sau bão Bualoi - Ảnh 2. — The house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, Cua Lo ward, Nghe An, had its roof blown off after storm No. 10 - Photo: DOAN HOA

Receiving support from Tuoi Tre newspaper to rebuild her roof after the storm, Mrs. Ha was moved to tears.

"This is a valuable source of encouragement to help my family soon overcome difficulties and stabilize our lives," Ms. Ha confided.

Not far from Mrs. Ha’s house, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan’s family is also living under a tarpaulin after their house’s roof was blown off by the storm. Mr. Tuan’s family is extremely poor, his mother recently passed away after many years of battling illness. Their difficulties were compounded when the storm blew off their roof.

"Last month, storm number 5 damaged part of the roof. My husband and I hired someone to re-roof it, but now storm number 10 is even more violent and has blown away the entire roof, leaving nothing behind," Mr. Tuan said sadly.

After the storm, Tran Tuan Nghia and his three children - 8th grade students at Le Binh Secondary School, Thach Lac Commune, Ha Tinh - were also filled with worry when their house's roof was blown away. All the property in the house was left in ruins.

The main source of income for the mother and her three children depends on a few acres of contracted rice fields, life is always lacking. Nghia's brother has to undergo dialysis every week, the treatment costs are quite expensive.

Before the storm hit, the commune loudspeaker announced that people had to evacuate to the commune headquarters to avoid the storm. The family of three only had time to bring a few sets of clothes. When the storm passed, when they returned, the house was devastated.

"Without the roof, all my belongings and books are damaged. I'm worried about what will happen to me in the next few days of school…", Nghia said in a low voice.

Bà con miền Trung xúc động nhận tiền lợp lại mái nhà sau bão Bualoi - Ảnh 3. — The house of Tran Tuan Nghia, an 8th grade student at Le Binh Secondary School, Thach Lac Commune, Ha Tinh, is left with only rubble - Photo: DANG ANH

Sharing the difficulties of people in storm-affected areas, the Editorial Board of Tuoi Tre Newspaper decided to spend 2 billion VND on the program "Re-roofing houses for people in storm-affected areas" (8 million VND/house with completely blown-off roof) and awarding scholarships "Preventing school dropouts" (3 million VND/scholar) to poor students and families affected by storm Bualoi.

Ms. Nguyen Ny Huong - Secretary of Ha Tinh Provincial Youth Union - shared: "Natural disasters and floods that leave many losses and damages to people always have the affectionate companionship of Tuoi Tre newspaper readers.

The gifts from readers today are the first gifts to come to the people after the storm, very timely and valuable, helping the people and students have more motivation to overcome difficulties and soon stabilize their lives."

"People have just experienced consecutive storms and floods in the past two months, making life even more difficult and need the community's help to rebuild their lives," said Ho Phuc Hai, deputy secretary of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union.