Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh inspected flood relief work in Luong Minh and Tuong Duong communes.

Also attending were members of the Provincial Party Executive Committee: Pham Hong Quang - Director of the Department of Construction; Trinh Thanh Hai - Director of the Department of Finance; and leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Environment; and the Provincial Military Command.

Luong Minh Commune is more than 210km from the center of Nghe An province, with 1,163 households/5,199 people residing in 10 villages. Of which, there are 567 poor households, accounting for 48.75%; 408 near-poor households, accounting for 35.05%. Average income per capita is only 25 million VND/year.

The flood on the night of July 22 and early morning of July 23 caused heavy damage to the entire commune; up to now, 6 villages are still isolated, including: 2 villages of Ca Moong and Xop Chao with 282 households and 1,217 people, located in the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir; 4 villages in the inner area including: Dua, Minh Tien, Minh Thanh, Cham Puong due to Xop Mat suspension bridge being washed away.

The total value of damage caused by floods in Luong Minh commune is estimated at more than 126 billion VND, of which damage to houses alone is estimated at more than 12 billion VND.

Arriving at Luong Minh commune, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh directly inspected the suspension bridge of Ban La village, which has now been deformed. The authorities had to install warning signs to restrict traffic.

Comrade Le Hong Vinh also directly inspected the Xop Mat suspension bridge. The recent flood swept away the vital suspension bridge connecting the villages: Dua, Minh Tien, Minh Thanh and Cham Puong with a total of about 490 households and more than 1,000 people. These 4 communes are also isolated from each other due to 17km of inter-village road with up to 30 major landslides.

In a direct discussion with the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and the working delegation, Comrade Nguyen Van Thang - Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Council of Luong Minh commune proposed many contents to overcome the damage, especially in infrastructure and social security.

At the suspension bridges affected by floods, Director of the Department of Construction Pham Hong Quang also reported and proposed solutions.

With the view of not letting people be isolated and having a solution to clear the way, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh directed to arrange vehicles to take a detour to overcome landslides on the road connecting the four villages of Dua, Minh Tien, Minh Thanh and Cham Puong, in order to facilitate the supply of essential food and provisions.

Regarding suspension bridges, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has given specific instructions, in which he agreed with the proposal of the Department of Construction and the leaders of Luong Minh commune to allocate funds to build a new suspension bridge to replace the Xop Mat suspension bridge, in order to ensure long-term and sustainable traffic connection for this particularly difficult area.

At the office of Luong Minh commune in general and the Commune Administrative Service Center in particular, comrade Le Hong Vinh visited and encouraged the commune's cadres and civil servants who are making efforts to overcome difficulties and maintain government activities in deprived conditions.

He praised the sense of responsibility and hoped that the team of communal cadres would continue to accompany the people in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and maintain the effective operation of the political system at the grassroots level.

Next, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh inspected the recovery work in Tuong Duong commune. In the recent flood, the whole commune had 21 blocks completely isolated; 2,210 out of 4,345 households had to be urgently evacuated; 1,738 houses were 100% flooded, 51 houses collapsed and washed away.

In the commune, there are 3 collapsed and swept away suspension bridges, including: Van Temple - Cua Rao suspension bridge connecting the residential area to Van Temple, built in 2013; Chan village suspension bridge built in 2000 serving traffic for 165 households in Chan village and Lau village suspension bridge built in 2002, a residential bridge serving traffic for 229 households in Mac village (old village), Lau village, Nhan village.

Because 2/3 of the bridge collapsed and was swept away, it is a vital traffic route connecting the right bank of National Highway 7 to the left bank, so up to now, the authorities have had difficulty accessing the people in the above areas. The local government had to arrange boats to supply essential food to the people. The total damage caused by the flood in Tuong Duong commune reached nearly 1,600 billion VND.

Directly surveying the scene of 3 damaged suspension bridges, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee directed the Department of Construction to coordinate with the commune authorities to soon complete a temporary repair plan.

In the immediate future, a ferry terminal will be set up to serve the travel needs of about 400 households with nearly 1,500 people from 4 villages: Chan, Lau, Mac (old village) and Nhan. In the long term, the province will study sustainable alternatives.

Also during the working trip, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh inspected the Hoa Binh market area - the main trading center of Tuong Duong commune, which is currently covered in mud after the flood.

This is one of the most heavily affected areas, the entire system of kiosks and stalls is deeply flooded, the goods are moldy, and mud covers the market floor, walkways, and adjacent residential areas.

At the scene, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the armed forces, along with volunteer teams and local people, are actively working together to clean up mud, waste and disinfect the environment to soon bring the market back into operation. Taking advantage of favorable weather, the forces and people urgently cleaned up.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Hong Vinh personally went to each group and team to encourage officers and soldiers; visited affected traders, listened to their stories about difficulties after the flood and wished for a quick stabilization of business.

He also acknowledged and commended the efforts of the functional forces, volunteer teams and people who promptly arrived at the flood epicenter, supported with all responsibility and heart, and promptly restored people's daily lives and business activities.