Flood victims maintain a spirit of sharing

After more than 3 days, many roads, villages, hamlets along the river, and low-lying areas in communes are still flooded. People's lives, activities, and travel are extremely difficult. Party committees, local authorities, armed forces, mass organizations, socio -political organizations , and philanthropists are working together to support and help the people in the flooded areas, not letting anyone go hungry or cold...

Humanity in hardship

Photo caption — Hundreds of charitable organizations and individuals have turned to the flooded areas of Lang Son to provide relief supplies to the people. Photo: Van Dat/VNA

Van Nham is one of the most deeply flooded communes in Lang Son province during this period. The commune has 30 villages, over 4,300 households, with more than 19,490 people. This historic flood has deeply flooded 14 villages, isolated and cut off. Most households in the flooded villages had to evacuate their homes to ensure safety.

According to VNA reporters in Van Nham commune, the "main artery" road, Provincial Road 242, entering the commune on October 7 and 8, was flooded about 2 meters on average, and nearly 3 meters in some places. By the afternoon of October 10, some sections were still deeply flooded. Many low-lying villages along the Trung River were still submerged in water. The only means of access for people were boats and rafts.

The Commune People's Committee Headquarters and Military Command along with some schools and gas stations were also flooded, especially there was a widespread power outage in both flooded and non-flooded areas. Many places had no phone or internet signal, making it difficult to direct and carry out tasks.

Due to the rapid and high floodwaters, many households were unable to react in time. Valuable assets in the house; rice and crops ready to be harvested in the fields were all submerged in floodwaters. Although there have been no statistics on property damage from the authorities of Van Nham commune, it is certain that in the 14 flooded and isolated villages, property damage is very large. Many households are currently unable to take the initiative in meals, drinking water, and domestic water and must temporarily rely on relief forces.

Despite the severe shortages, the people in the flooded villages still showed solidarity and mutual support. Families with high-rise buildings had rooms left for those whose houses were completely flooded and had no place to stay.

Especially in difficult times, the spirit of community solidarity and sharing is promoted and multiplied. People in flood-affected areas give each other lunch boxes and water bottles. When a rescue team passes by, anyone who lacks something just asks for and receives it. The remaining household items will not be kept but given to those in need and those in more urgent need.

Mr. Duong Van Tung, who lives in Dong Khu village, Van Nham commune, shared that he is 31 years old this year and has never witnessed such a big flood. His family of four only had time to collect a few personal belongings and clothes, while the TV, tables, chairs, and machinery were all submerged in water. Since July 2025, the commune has had two floods, but they were not too deep and receded quickly, so this time people were somewhat surprised and subjective.

Mr. Duong Ba Ngoc in Ben Cat village, Van Nham commune sadly said: "The water started to flood into the house and quickly rose to more than 2 meters from October 7. Nearly 3 tons of cement and household items could not be moved in time. The water has not receded for several days, so the family's food reserves have run out, and they have to ask for drinking water, rice, and noodles from the relief team. However, he and the people here still maintain the spirit of sharing, those who lack less give way to those who lack more. Whoever lacks something, ask for that, do not ask for more, please save...".

Spirit of serving the people

Thanks to the sense of responsibility, dedication and devotion of the Party Committees, authorities at all levels and local armed forces, the people's requests for rescue and assistance were basically met promptly. No one had to suffer the situation of "sleeping on the open sky, sleeping on the ground" during the recent days of rain and floods.

Over the past few days, the local rescue team has been working hard, wading through floodwaters all day to bring food, water, and necessities to the people. Some officers and soldiers' houses were flooded, but as soon as they arranged accommodation for their relatives, they immediately went with their comrades to rescue the people.

Soaking in floodwaters for several consecutive days to deliver relief goods to the people has caused Chu Van Binh, Commander of the Military Command of Van Nham commune, to have flu symptoms, but he still does not rest, continuing with his teammates to go to every alley, to every house to deliver relief goods, hoping that no one will miss a meal or go hungry or thirsty.

Mr. Binh said that currently, all military, militia, and commune police forces are focusing all their efforts on relief missions for the people. Currently, many relief teams are heading to the flooded Van Nham area. Unit officers will coordinate with other forces to deliver all goods and necessities to the people as quickly as possible. When the water recedes, the unit will continue to help people clean up the environment and rebuild their lives.

Mr. Nong Van Tien, a militiaman in Van Nham commune, said: "On October 7-8, the water was 2-3 meters deep, making it very difficult to transport goods. The cargo boats were full and heavy, so we couldn't sit on them but had to hold on to the sides of the boats while swimming and pushing them. In some villages on the banks of the Trung River, we tried to approach them, but the water was so strong that small boats couldn't pass. We had to report to the commune and ask the armed forces in the province to send large boats to support us. We soaked ourselves in the water every day, our clothes were all wet, but when the people had food and water, the brothers in the unit were very happy and continued to encourage each other to try to complete their tasks well, worthy of the people's trust and love."

The family of Ngo Van Tuyen, a militiaman of Van Nham commune, had a house in Het village that was flooded more than 1 meter deep. The family of 5 had to move to stay with relatives, but as soon as he arranged a place for his wife and children to stay, he and his comrades went to the flooded area to support the people. According to Mr. Tuyen, this is not only a job but also a sentiment and responsibility to the people and his homeland.

In recent days, although the roads to flood-affected areas of Lang Son province are very difficult, relief trucks from everywhere loaded with goods and necessities are still heading to flood-affected people.

The traces of floodwaters imprinted on the walls of houses and trees will gradually fade over time. However, it is certain that the floods have left extremely serious consequences and it will take a long time for local people to recover and mend. For now, people in the deeply flooded areas are waiting for the water to recede quickly so they can return home and rebuild their lives.

According to reports from communes in Lang Son province, floods injured 3 people; about 5,100 households had their houses affected; of which, 10 houses collapsed, 2,158 houses were flooded, 2,577 houses were isolated, 249 houses had landslides, 55 houses were at risk of landslides. Flooding occurred on a large scale in the communes of Yen Binh, Van Nham, Huu Lung, Tuan Son, Cai Kinh, That Khe, Trang Dinh, Quoc Viet...

The whole province has over 3,890 hectares of rice and over 1,000 hectares of crops flooded; 9 educational facilities were affected; 668 traffic points were eroded and flooded. Many bridges, tunnels and traffic roads were partially flooded, landslides of over 50,160m³; 29 electric poles were broken, flooding caused widespread power outages and telecommunication network outages. Total damage is estimated at over 1,050 billion VND.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/nguoi-dan-vung-lu-giu-tinh-than-se-chia-20251010201533202.htm