People in flood-hit Nghe An province put away their belongings before the storm season comes.

Clip: QA

Proactively raise assets

Every time the rainy season approaches, the whole family of Mr. Ho Xuan Thanh, hamlet 7, Chau Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen) is busy with the work of raising assets and food to prevent floods. With a metal barrel raised about 1.5 meters above the ground, Mr. Thanh, his wife and children carry rice into the barrel to ensure it is always dry and avoid mold if the water rises in the near future. On the lid of the barrel, bags of corn, peanuts, and some belongings are also used to prop up, at a safe distance.

The flood in October 2022 caused many houses outside the dike in Hung Nguyen district to be submerged in water. Photo: QA

Mr. Thanh said: My house is in the old Hung Nhan commune, an area located completely outside the Ta Lam dike, only a few hundred meters from the Lam river, so every year up to now, it has been flooded during the rainy season. In light cases, the water reaches the yard up to the knees, in severe cases like 2002, 2010, 2019... it reaches half the house. This year in particular, hearing the forecast that the flood situation is expected to be more complicated, not only my house but also all the households have prepared prevention plans early...

The rice has been stored by the people of Chau Nhan commune in metal containers at a height of more than 1 meter above the ground to prevent rising water. Photo: QA

Not far away, Mr. Ho Van Trung's family was also busy stacking dry straw on the mezzanine to store for buffalo and cows. This mezzanine is about 3 meters above the ground, with stairs leading up to the side of the house. The mezzanine is divided into 2 rooms. One room is used to bring buffalo, cows, chickens, pigs, etc. up high during floods, the other room is filled with dry straw, corn, rice, etc. to feed livestock and poultry, ensuring temporary shelter in the mezzanine for about a week if floods come.

Mr. Au Duong Hoa - Secretary of the Party Cell of Hamlet 7, Chau Nhan Commune said: The hamlet is located completely outside the dike, so every rainy and stormy season, more than 250 households here proactively raise their assets, especially food, documents, electrical equipment, livestock, etc.

“In the past, every rainy and stormy season, every household had to bring their livestock to Ta Lam dike. In recent years, people have been supported to build huts, self-rescue dunes, mezzanines, etc., so most of them leave their livestock at home, as long as they are brought up high enough to ensure safety. Bringing them up to the dike like before always had to stay up all night to watch, there were times when the livestock of different families were mixed together, making a mess…”, Mr. Hoa recalled.

People in Chau Nhan commune store food for buffalo and cows on high ground. Photo: QA

Hoa Lam residential group, Thuan Hoa hamlet, Hung Hoa commune, Vinh city is also an area located completely outside the dike, adjacent to Lam river. This place is always flooded all year round during the rainy and stormy season. It is worth mentioning that the project to urgently relocate and resettle people in the flooded area outside the dike of Hung Hoa commune has been implemented for a long time, but until now, due to many problems, it has not been completed. Therefore, in the days approaching this rainy and stormy season, instead of moving to a new safe place, Hoa Lam people continue to find ways to cope with flooding in their current place.

Residents of Hoa Lam residential group, Hung Hoa commune, Vinh city, raise their property before the storm season. Photo: QA

Visiting households in Hoa Lam residential group, we noted that many houses had in common the peeling, damp, and crumbling walls... the consequences of being submerged in water every year. Because they did not know when they would be able to leave, people did not repair much. Notably, all items, clothes, and blankets were placed high up, with some hanging. Other appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, etc. were placed on 3-4 bricks at the feet, about 30-40 cm above the ground.

Mr. Nguyen Van Son, a resident of Hoa Lam, said: “We are in the category of people who are forced to evacuate urgently, but we have not been able to do so for the past ten years, so we have to find a way to adapt to get through the rainy and stormy season. All the furniture and belongings of the households have been moved to higher ground. If the water level rises again, the only way left is to run to the shore…”

Ready 4 on the spot

It is expected that this year's storm season will be unpredictable, therefore, not only the people but also the local authorities in high-risk areas have prepared 4 on-site plans for prevention including: On-site command; on-site forces; on-site means; on-site logistics.

At this time, the house of Mrs. Hoang Thi Thuyet - the village chief of Thuan Hoa village, Hung Hoa commune is full of life jackets, foam boxes... these are items that are provided in case of emergency during floods, kept at the village chief's house so that in case of an incident, they can be quickly brought out.

Swimming buoys are gathered at the house of the village chief of Thuan Hoa, Hung Hoa commune to handle incidents during the rainy and stormy season. Photo: QA

Ms. Thuyet said: Most of the people in the village live by fishing, so everyone has proactively built boats, both to earn a living and as a means of survival during the rainy season. Although we have experience on the river, we cannot be subjective when it comes to natural disasters because each year is different. We regularly advise and propagate people to monitor weather information to proactively prepare response plans, raise assets, and be ready to evacuate in case of emergency.

“In reality, these are temporary solutions. Currently, the biggest wish of the 82 households in the old Hoa Lam hamlet is for the authorities to speed up the procedures to soon hand over the resettlement area to the people. We cannot let the project be delayed for a decade while every year people live in fear of the rainy and stormy season…”, Ms. Thuyet emphasized.

People outside the dike in Hung Nguyen district have to endure flooding every year. Photo: QA

Not only the people's awareness, but also the proactive response to the storm season is also given special attention by local authorities at this time. According to statistics from Chau Nhan commune, Hung Nguyen district, the 2022 storm season, especially the circulation of storm No. 4, has caused more than 1,000 households living outside the dike in hamlets 7, 8, 9 and Phu Xuan hamlet to be heavily flooded and completely isolated. In addition, 21.7 km of roads, 4 hamlet cultural houses, 3 schools, 1 medical station were deeply flooded, the floods also damaged some essential infrastructure, and internal roads and bridges were severely eroded.

Therefore, this year, the locality has proactively responded to natural disasters earlier. Regarding on-site equipment, the commune has equipped 3 motorboats, including 1 large boat, 10 boats, hundreds of life jackets ready for rescue in case of isolation. The commune has also established sub-committees to arrange personnel such as evacuation sub-committee, propaganda sub-committee, logistics sub-committee, search and rescue sub-committee and damage recovery sub-committee.

Mr. Le Khanh Quang - Chairman of Chau Nhan Commune People's Committee said: The commune has also planned to respond to natural disasters according to each alarm level. If alarm level 1 is reached, the commune will focus on evacuating priority people such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, single people, especially policy families. At alarm level 2, the forces and hamlets will be directed to guard assets, arrange available forces to transport livestock and poultry out of the flood area, and people will be ready to evacuate. If the alarm level is at level 3, the entire political system and rescue teams of the commune will be mobilized to bring people outside the dike to safety at the community flood shelter, Pham Hong Thai Primary School and hamlets inside the dike.

Chau Nhan Commune authorities evacuate people and property during the 2022 storm season. Photo: QA

During the rainy and stormy season, the areas outside the Ta Lam dike in communes such as Chau Nhan, Hung Loi, Long Xa... are all weak points, often flooded. Therefore, the district also directed localities and functional forces to focus on developing response plans in these areas. In particular, focusing on evacuating people from dangerous areas during the rainy and stormy season, implementing rowing, ensuring absolute safety of houses, commune People's Committee headquarters, medical stations, schools, power stations... Carrying out repairs and upgrading of weak irrigation works. In particular, when the water level rises, forces will be assigned to monitor, guide and proactively restrict or prohibit people and vehicles from entering dangerous areas due to floods, the highest goal is to minimize damage caused by floods in the area./.

Mr. Hoang Anh Tien - Vice Chairman of Hung Nguyen District People's Committee

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nguoi-dan-vung-lu-xu-nghe-ke-gac-do-dac-truoc-mua-mua-bao-den-post275301.html