Helicopters drop relief goods to thousands of isolated households in floods in Lang Son

Helicopters take off to rescue people in flooded areas of Lang Son . Photo: Truong Son

On the morning of October 8, the Ministry of National Defense dispatched three helicopters carrying tons of essential goods to provide relief to people in isolated flood-affected areas in Lang Son and Cao Bang.

Two Mi-171 and Mi-17 helicopters of the Air Defense - Air Force took off from Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi (Air Brigade 918), carrying 4 tons of goods and emergency relief supplies for people in isolated flood-hit areas in Van Nham and Yen Binh, Lang Son province.

Major General Vu Hong Son, Commander of the Air Defense - Air Force, was present to direct the relief mission.

On the same morning, a working delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, along with 500kg of relief goods for people in Cao Bang province, also took off from Gia Lam airport, on a helicopter of Army Corps 18.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Ma Van Dat - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Binh commune, Lang Son province said that a helicopter had just dropped about 2 tons of relief goods to isolated areas in the commune.

According to Mr. Dat, prolonged heavy rain due to the circulation of storm No. 11 caused water from upstream to flow quickly and strongly, hundreds of households in Yen Binh commune were isolated and completely lost contact for many hours.

“Until this morning, rescue work was still very difficult due to high and fast-flowing water.

It was not until the morning of October 8, when the water began to recede, that rescue boats from authorities and local people were able to approach and provide necessities to affected households," Mr. Dat informed.

In Van Nham commune, another heavily flooded area, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hung - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said that at around 10:30 a.m. the same day, a helicopter also dropped relief goods to people in the isolated area.

According to Mr. Hung, nearly 2,000 households in the commune were isolated and lost contact, many villages were flooded 1-2 meters deep.

By noon on October 8, the water began to recede slowly, but it is expected to take at least two more days for the flood to completely recede.

Since the early morning of October 7, the circulation of storm No. 11 (storm Matmo) has caused prolonged heavy rain, causing many mountainous areas of Lang Son province to be submerged in water.

Within 24 hours, rainfall measured at stations reached 200-300 mm, in some places exceeding 350 mm, causing the water level of Trung River and Bac Giang River to rise above level 3 alarm by 2 to 5 m.

Yen Binh, Van Nham, That Khe and Trang Dinh communes became the epicenter of the most serious flooding in many years.

The whole province has more than 2,000 households affected, many places are flooded from 30 cm to 2 m deep, traffic is completely cut off, rescue work is facing many difficulties.

According to a report from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lang Son province, by 5 p.m. on October 7, authorities had mobilized 455 soldiers, 1,150 militia, 750 police officers, along with 8 ST450 boats, 20 cars, and 15 excavators to rescue people in deeply flooded areas.

Nearly 800 people were evacuated to schools, cultural houses and commune People's Committee headquarters for safe shelter.

Many inter-village roads were eroded with a total volume of more than 10,000 m3 of earth and rock, causing serious traffic congestion.

In Trang Dinh district, Bac Khe 1 hydroelectric dam (Tan Tien commune) had a large piece of concrete broken at the water intake area, causing the central control room to collapse completely.

Laodong.vn

Source: https://laodong.vn/xa-hoi/truc-thang-tha-hang-cuu-tro-cho-hang-nghin-ho-dan-co-lap-trong-mua-lu-o-lang-son-1588093.ldo