How were the people of Bat Trang pottery village affected after the flood?

As a famous pottery village in Hanoi, Bat Trang pottery village (Gia Lam district, Hanoi) has 2,355 households, but 910 households produce and trade pottery with an average annual revenue of over 1,200 billion VND. However, people said that this kind of flood has not happened in the past 20 years, causing heavy economic impacts and losses to households in the village.

How were the villagers affected by the flood? Picture 1 — The road from the welcome gate of Bat Trang village was still flooded on the morning of September 14.

As one of the households affected by storm No. 3, the owner of Thanh Dinh pottery facility said: "From the afternoon of September 11, floodwaters just entered Bat Trang pottery village. By the morning of September 12, the entire village was almost completely flooded, the water was about 1 meter above the floor. When the water flooded the pottery products, households immediately had to submerge the pottery barrels to prevent the pottery from floating up and colliding, leading to damage. I was also very surprised that it had been more than 20 years since I witnessed such a big storm and flood. I clearly remember that in 2002, the village was also flooded and the amount of water was similar to the recent flood. My wife and I were very surprised and prayed to God that the goods would not be damaged."

"During the two days of flooding, my wife and I took advantage of the time to move our ceramic products to a safe area to avoid breakage. We were very happy and joyful when the floodwaters receded quickly so that people like us could continue to do business," added the owner of Thanh Dinh ceramics.

How were the villagers affected by the flood? Picture 2 — Bat Trang villagers clean up and wipe dirty ceramic items after the storm and flood.

According to the owner of this establishment, because it has been decades since such a flood has occurred, most households in the village do not have boats available to move around. Therefore, they have to borrow boats from Kieu Ky village to help them move around when the water is flooded.

"I didn't think the flood would be so big, but in just one day it reached the doorstep. Luckily, my family didn't suffer much economic damage, but there were a few households in the village who suffered billions of dong in losses after the recent flood," said the pottery shop owner.

According to records, by this morning, September 14, the amount of water in Bat Trang pottery village had almost completely receded. There were still a few places at the village gate that were still slightly stagnant, while the water in the pottery market inside had completely receded. Some traders in the village said they were very happy that the storm and flood had passed because when the rain and flood had caused all activities to stop, it directly affected business, leading to serious economic damage.

How were the villagers affected by the flood? Picture 3 — On the morning of September 14, Bat Trang pottery villagers started cleaning up the village streets and alleys after the floodwaters had receded. Pottery shop owners were also busy washing each pottery pot that was covered in mud after the flood to ensure the quality of their products.

Not far away, Mr. and Mrs. Phuong Loan's family suffered great damage after the flood and said: "Yesterday, the water was still flooding in my area. By this morning, the water had almost completely receded, only a few low-lying areas still had stagnant water. My family started cleaning up the flooded ceramic pots today, some of which were broken ceramic pots that were collected for disposal. I estimate that my family suffered about 100-200 million VND in damage. This is a relatively large number for my family. However, deep in the village, there are a few households that were heavily affected after the storm and flood."

As a resident of Bat Trang pottery village who witnessed the entire flood, Ms. Diep was heartbroken by the inundation. As a hired worker for pottery establishments in the village, Ms. Diep hopes that local authorities at all levels need to take measures to overcome and handle the flooding situation to ensure the safety and business of the people, and not let storms and floods cause serious impacts on the overall economy of the whole country.

Some photos taken on the morning of September 14 at Bat Trang pottery village: