For the past two weeks, the villagers haven't been able to sleep a wink at night. It continues to rain at night, and they fear that if they fall asleep, the flood might come and they won't have time to escape.
It so happened that, starting in early September, after a heavy rain, a huge crack appeared running around the village. Mud and soil from the mountain buried several houses in the village. The whole village clung to their homes and fled in the dark of night. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Actually, the crack running across the village has been there for several years. However, back then the crack was only wide enough for a chopstick to fit through, unlike now, where the crack is several handspans wide in places.
Because floods come unexpectedly, no one thought to prepare resettlement areas for the people. Therefore, after the incident, the people had to erect temporary shelters by the roadside, and their living conditions are very precarious.
According to local officials, the district and commune authorities have surveyed a resettlement site for the villagers. The resettlement site is not far from the old village, but what everyone hopes for is that the authorities will quickly complete the infrastructure of the resettlement area so that the households can move and settle down soon. Their biggest fear is that if the villagers remain in their old place without a resettlement site, and it rains heavily, the village could be buried. The danger is that floods often strike at night. Therefore, no one in the village dares to sleep.
Article: Lau Va Xenh
Illustration photo: Thanh Cuong
