Northern region responds to historic floods - Overcoming consequences, stabilizing people's lives

The Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) updated as of 7 p.m. on October 8 that heavy rains and floods after storm No. 11 have left 13 people dead, missing, and 7 injured in the North. In the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Bac Ninh, and Hanoi, more than 16,900 houses were flooded, 1,600 houses were isolated, and 710 houses were severely damaged. Authorities promptly evacuated 803 households to safety after the Bac Khe 1 hydropower dam collapsed (Lang Son province).

Thai Nguyen : Many people take refuge on rooftops

Many places in the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Bac Ninh turned into seas of water. The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that the water level on the Cau River at Gia Bay station (Thai Nguyen province) peaked at 29.9m at 1:00 a.m. on October 8, 2.9m higher than the alarm level 3 and more than 1m higher than the historical flood peak in 2024 (caused by storm Yagi).

The Cau River water from upstream continuously flooded a series of residential areas in the communes downstream of Gia Bay station, rising up to the administrative center of Thai Nguyen province. Many people were trapped in the flood and had to call for help on social networks.

Thai Nguyen province center in the historic flood, October 8

All night, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hung (71 years old, in Goc Voi 1 residential group, Linh Son ward, Thai Nguyen province) stayed up all night, huddled on the roof because of cold and hunger after 13 hours stuck in the flood water. A few hundred meters away, the family of Ms. Tran Thi Hien and 6 relatives also had to climb onto the roof, stretch out a plastic sheet to cover temporarily while the water reached the ceiling of the first floor.

Using social media, Ms. Trinh Tham called out on the night of October 7: “My parents are stuck at home. Their phones are out of battery and they can’t contact anyone outside. The house has a blue roof, in the alley opposite the transformer station in Goc Voi 1 hamlet, Linh Son ward, Thai Nguyen province.”

As of the afternoon of October 8, many streets and residential areas in Thai Nguyen province were still deeply flooded.

Deploy urgent measures to prevent floods

On the afternoon of October 8, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrived in Thai Nguyen province to inspect the situation, visit people's lives, check and encourage the forces on duty to respond to floods, rescue, overcome the consequences of natural disasters, and provide necessities to the people. The Prime Minister sent his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and shared the pain, loss and difficulties of the Party Committee, government and people in the disaster-stricken areas.

Party and State leaders have directed the urgent implementation of urgent solutions to quickly overcome the consequences of storms, floods and stabilize people's lives.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh directs rescue and flood relief work in Phan Dinh Phung ward, Thai Nguyen province, at noon on October 8. Photo: VIET CHUNG

The Prime Minister requested to immediately deploy urgent measures to prevent floods according to the warning level; promptly provide food relief to households at risk of hunger, absolutely not letting people go hungry or thirsty. In the long term, the Prime Minister clearly stated the need to invest in building, upgrading and completing the system of dykes, preventing and controlling floods on both banks of the Cau River through the center of Thai Nguyen province.

The Prime Minister assigned Thai Nguyen province to build a road and dyke investment project on both sides of the Cau River (each side is about 17km long), deploy it as quickly as possible in an emergency situation and strive to complete it in June 2026... On the same day, the Prime Minister also decided to provide emergency support of 140 billion VND from the central budget reserve in 2025 for the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang, Lang Son and Bac Ninh.

At noon of the same day, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh also inspected the scene and directed the repair of the broken dike in Bac Ninh. On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha inspected the recovery of the consequences of the flood and visited people in Thuc Phan ward, Cao Bang province.

Lang Son: Thousands of houses flooded

In Lang Son province, as of October 8, thousands of houses in Huu Lung, That Khe, Trang Dinh communes... are still submerged in floodwater. The prolonged heavy rain has affected nearly 3,000 households. The communes of Yen Binh, Van Nham, Huu Lung, Tuan Son, That Khe, Trang Dinh are the most heavily flooded.

On October 8, Regiment 916 (Division 371) used helicopters to carry out 4 flights to provide relief supplies, helping people in the communes of Van Nham, Yen Binh and Tuan Son (Lang Son province) isolated by floods... In the past few days, the army has deployed many rescue teams in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son - areas that were flooded extensively due to the circulation of storm No. 11. A total of more than 30,000 officers, soldiers and thousands of rescue vehicles were mobilized.

Exceptionally large floods on Cau River and Thuong River

At 9 p.m. on October 8, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned that floods on the Cau and Thuong rivers in the North continued to rise rapidly. At Gia Bay station (Thai Nguyen), the water level reached 28.89m - exceeding the historical level in 2024 by 0.08m. On the Thuong river, Cau Son station recorded a water level of 18.29m - exceeding alarm level 3 by 2.29m; at Phu Lang Thuong station it was 7.53m - exceeding alarm level 3 by 1.23m; at Huu Lung station it was 24.15m - 1.61m higher than the historical level in 1986.

In the next 12 to 24 hours, floods will continue to rise, with many places likely to reach and exceed alert level 3 by 1m to 2.5m, with the risk of widespread flooding in Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, and Lang Son.

On the evening of October 8, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep signed an urgent document requesting the People's Committee of Thai Nguyen province to immediately mobilize all forces, materials, means, and emergency equipment to prevent the Ha Chau dike from overflowing at locations at risk of overflow, and prevent floodwater from overflowing the dike into the fields.

On October 8, the Hanoi Civil Defense Command issued a level 3 alert on the Ca Lo River, applicable to the communes of Soc Son, Da Phuc, Thu Lam, Phuc Thinh, Quang Minh, Tien Thang and Noi Bai. The Hanoi People's Committee issued a telegram requesting localities to immediately deploy flood prevention measures according to the alert level.

PV GROUP

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/mien-bac-ung-pho-mua-lu-lich-su-khac-phuc-hau-qua-on-dinh-doi-song-nguoi-dan-post817036.html