Meaningful works in flood areas

(Baonghean) -Building wooden “cupboards” close to the ceiling to avoid floods, or commune officials having to go to other localities to ask for people to avoid floods… These are things that happen during the storm and flood season in low-lying communes in Hung Nguyen and Nam Dan. To help people in this area gradually overcome the above situation, the Government has invested in a pilot project to build flood shelters in Hung Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen) and Nam Cuong commune (Nam Dan), which has initially brought about clear results.

From making "cookers" and migrating to avoid floods...

Most families in Nam Cuong (Nam Dan) also build high wooden “cupboards” close to the ceiling to avoid floods. When the flood water is high enough to enter the house, people climb up to live and if the water rises too high, people can easily remove the tiles and climb up to the roof to wait for rescue. It is known that Nam Cuong is a low-lying commune of Nam Dan district, so for generations, people have been accustomed to living with floods and so, any household in the commune, when repairing or building a house, the first thing to consider is making a place to avoid flood water. Mr. Thai Hong Tham in hamlet 4 said: “Whenever there is a flood, I and many other people in the hamlet go to avoid the water, because building a “cupboard” to avoid floods on the ceiling is not really reassuring, because the house was built a long time ago, so it was not built high at that time, and it was not sturdy, so it is best to go to avoid the flood”.

Mr. Le Trung Sinh - Vice Chairman of Nam Cuong Commune People's Committee said: "During the flood season, along with measures to evacuate people to the Commune People's Committee, to schools and families with high-rise buildings to avoid floods, a plan to ensure the safety of people's lives and property is to avoid floods. After firmly grasping the weather forecast, official dispatches and directives of the province and district about each period of rain and flood, the commune has a plan to implement 3 clusters of people to evacuate, including Tan Xuan cluster where people move to Khanh Son mountain, hamlet 9, hamlet 10 where people go up the dike to Nam Kim mountain and hamlet 5, Dong Tho hamlet go to Hung Nguyen to avoid floods. Every year in June, the commune organizes drills on flood avoidance plans with the participation of many organizations, unions, security forces, people and support vehicles... Another advantage in helping Nam Cuong people avoid floods safely is that the commune has just inaugurated (November 20, 2012) a commune health station combined with a high-rise community house. 2 floors with a total capital of more than 4.2 billion VND". Making "cupboards" or taking people to avoid floods are ways of living with floods of Nam Cuong people, but to ensure safety for people, peace of mind and stability in life, a more synchronous solution is needed.

The family of Ms. Vo Thi Nhuan in hamlet 6, Nam Cuong commune received financial support from the State to build a solid flood shelter.

...to build flood shelters

The family of Ms. Vo Thi Nhuan in Hamlet 6, Nam Cuong Commune (Nam Dan) is a poor household, so for a long time her family has wanted to build a solid flood shelter made of cement to have peace of mind and a stable life, but that has not been possible. So every flood season (from August to October), her family's life is always disrupted and worried about flooding. Ms. Nhuan said: "Recently, my family was fortunate to receive 10 million VND from the State and a loan of 10 million VND through the Social Policy Bank to build a flood shelter. To have enough space for the family of 4 when flooded, my family decided to use the savings they had accumulated over many years and borrow more from relatives to build a flood shelter. Construction started in December 2012, and the shelter has now been completed with a construction area of ​​20m2, 2 floors high, and an investment of 55 million VND. With a solid flood shelter, my family will not have to stay at relatives' houses during the flood season and the whole family will be able to stabilize their lives."

It is known that Nam Cuong commune has 50 poor households receiving 500 million VND in support from the State to invest in building flood shelters because they benefited from the pilot program to build flood shelters (according to Decision 716/QD - TTg). Currently, Nam Cuong commune has 46 households completing the construction of the shelters and 4 others are in the completion stage. Mr. Tran Trung Dung - officer in charge of land and construction of Nam Cuong commune said: "Currently, the State's support capital has reached the commune and is only waiting for the last 4 households to complete their houses and complete all procedures for the commune to proceed with the disbursement immediately. As for the loan capital through the Social Policy Bank, it has basically been disbursed to the households. Currently, with the active direction, inspection and supervision of the Commune Steering Committee, the remaining 4 households are speeding up the construction progress and it is expected that they will complete the pilot implementation of the flood shelters by the end of this March".

The pilot program to build flood shelters (according to Decision 716/QD-TTg) in our province has been supported by the State with 1 billion VND and through preferential loans of 1 billion VND (at the Social Policy Bank) for 100 households in Hung Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen) and Nam Cuong commune (Nam Dan). Up to now, most of the households have completed the project. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Loi - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction said: “The flood shelters are built with good quality materials, brick walls, asbestos cement or corrugated iron roofs, and reinforced concrete floor frames. Most households build shelters adjacent to existing houses, some families build by renovating, raising the floor of existing houses, or building solid 2-storey houses to combine flood protection... Therefore, families benefiting from the program have invested an additional 2.76 billion VND to build shelters. This positive response from the people is one of the important factors contributing to the success of the program”.

The effectiveness of the pilot program to build flood shelters is clear. However, the program is currently only implemented in a small scope and the level of support is too low. The desire of poor people in low-lying areas in Nghe An is to continue investing and expanding the scope of implementation so that people can build shelters and live with floods with peace of mind.

Article and photos: Hoang Vinh