“The flood does not come from the big stream” is what the people of Son Ha village (Ta Ca commune, Ky Son district) said, one of the residential areas that suffered the most losses after the flood. Yes, it is hard to believe when hearing the saying “the flood does not come from the big stream”. But what the people said is true. The flood does not come from the big stream, but comes through the small streams – the investigation of the scene by reporters of Nghe An Newspaper clarified this in the article “Redrawing the "water bomb" that caused the flood in Ky Son”.
The current situation shows that in the water stream in the valley of the mountains above Son Ha village, there are still clear traces of two lakes. According to the villagers, from ancient times until now, this stream is small, has little water, and has never had a lake. Meanwhile, on the cliffs on both sides of the stream, there are still landslides and bare rocks. From this reality, it can be imagined that due to the prolonged rain in the last days of September, the soil and rocks from the cliffs were soaked with water and slid down, blocking the flow of the stream, then stagnating to form a dam, from here forming the lake. During the days of storm No. 4, heavy rains, the lake accumulated a huge amount of water. Because the natural earthen dam soaked with water for many hours, it became soft, mushy, and beyond its capacity, it burst, the two lakes became two "water bombs", creating a flash flood, sending water, mud, rocks, trees and anything in their way down to the Son Ha village area. Then, it continued to merge with water in Huoi Giang stream and flowed down to Hoa Son village, causing unprecedented devastation in the border district of Ky Son.
That is the cause of the flood in Ky Son. Regarding the flooding in Hoang Mai town during the circulation of storm No. 4, according to the investigation of Nghe An Newspaper reporter, it is partly because the Hoang Mai river is blocked. Information in the article“Finding the culprit causing severe flooding in Hoang Mai town”, at the time when Vuc Mau reservoir discharged floodwaters from 3 sluice gates, there were two locations on Hoang Mai river that were narrowed and blocked, leading to an unsmooth flow. Firstly, at the construction site of Hoang Mai 2 bridge, on the North-South expressway; secondly, in the area near Lach Con, the section near Quynh Phuong bridge and Nha Le canal where the coastal road passes through.
The reason is that the dismantling and clearance of the two material transfer routes and the service road are not guaranteed, the flow has not been restored to its original state. The management unit of Vuc Mau Lake, Bac Irrigation Company Limited, once sent Report No. 839/BC.KT-CT dated September 28, 2022 to the authorities: "As of September 28, 2022, through inspection and reporting by Hoang Mai Irrigation Enterprise, at the construction site of Hoang Mai 2 Bridge, the temporary bridge road in the middle of the river and the south of Hoang Mai 2 Bridge has not been processed and cleared of soil and rocks as committed in the working minutes". And the investigation of the scene by Nghe An Newspaper reporters also showed that on October 5, 2022, on Hoang Mai River appeared mounds of soil and concrete blocks because the contractor of the North-South Expressway had not completely cleared them.
Regarding the damage caused by storm No. 4, there are statistics and it was announced at the 9th Session of the 18th Provincial People's Council that it was extremely severe. 8 people died, more than 17,000 houses were flooded, 76 houses collapsed, completely swept away; total economic damage is estimated at about 1,000 billion VND! For society, it will certainly take a long time to stop being haunted by the fierce flood in Ky Son that swept away a 4-month-old baby, many houses, cars, motorbikes and countless other items; to stop being haunted by the immense sea of water, submerging fields, gardens, isolating villages and residential areas in Hoang Mai town.
This year’s storm and flood season has not ended yet. There will be more storm and flood seasons in the years to come. Therefore, with what storm No. 4 has caused, even though it is the time to focus on overcoming natural disasters, it is still necessary to dissect and clarify the causes, to overcome the limitations; and to discipline organizations and individuals who are still indifferent and irresponsible.
Specifically, the situation of the blocked flow in Ky Son causing "floods not coming from the big stream", although due to natural disasters, the underlying cause is also from humans. Countless clips and images have proven that the mountainous area, where the stream creates fierce floods, has completely lost its upstream protective forest ecosystem. Statistics from the Forestry sector also show that in Ky Son district, there are nearly 110 thousand hectares of protective forest land, but there are still nearly 42 thousand hectares of bare land without forest. Forestry land planned for protective forest is concentrated in vulnerable areas. If forest regeneration is slow, continued natural disasters are inevitable.
Regarding the blockage of the Hoang Mai River, it is clearly due to the indifferent attitude towards natural disaster prevention work of humans. Specifically, the indifferent and irresponsible attitude of contractors and related management agencies. Because many days before the information about storm No. 4, the return of the natural flow of the Hoang Mai River had been sent out many times by the responsible unit. Even on September 26, the Department of Transport had to work with a number of related departments and branches to inspect the site at the construction site of Hoang Mai 2 Bridge, and on September 27, issued a document requesting Project Management Board 6 (Ministry of Transport) to direct the contractor to "urgently clear and clear the flow of the Hoang Mai River at the midstream and south of the Hoang Mai River to ensure drainage, avoid flooding, affecting people's lives, production, safety of life and property".
Therefore, for Ky Son district, and even many areas in mountainous districts such as Que Phong, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, we hope to urgently consider the problem of regenerating protective forests on vulnerable planned lands. In addition, we need to help people with measures to respond to natural disasters, promptly detect and clear blocked flows to minimize flash floods. As for the blockage of the flow on Hoang Mai river, we need to check and consider the responsibilities of contractors and management units. Because creating a blockage of the flow is a violation of the law and is insensitive to society!
