Motorcycle and electronics repair services in Ky Son mountain town overloaded after flash flood

In the historic flash flood in early October, in addition to many houses, buildings, and roads being damaged and swept away, many households' properties were also submerged in mud and water and damaged.

According to statistics ofPeople's Committee of Ky Son district, the flood swept away and buried many cars, hundreds of motorbikes, bicycles, refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, laptops... The estimated property damage alone was up to 12 billion VND. Therefore, after clearing the mud, people in the flooded area of ​​Ky Son district rushed to repair their property in the hope of recovering some of the damage.

Motorbikes damaged by flash floods line up at repair shops in Muong Xen town, Ky Son district. Photo: Quang An

If for cars, most car owners bring them down to the lowlands for repair and warranty, nowserviceMotorcycle repair in Muong Xen town is considered "overwhelming" when the number of vehicles needing repair is too large compared to the limited number of repair shops in the area.

At Nguyen Viet Hai’s motorbike repair shop in Block 1, Muong Xen town, we saw dozens of motorbikes lying around, most of them had been disassembled, revealing layers of dry mud on all parts. These were all motorbikes that had been buried under mud during the recent flash flood, and had just been pulled up by the forces, however, repairing them was not easy.

The car parts after being disassembled still had a layer of dry mud due to being buried underground for a long time. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Hai shared: "Before the flash flood, there were nearly 20 motorbikes brought to my shop by customers but they had not been repaired yet. The flood happened suddenly, causing the whole motorbike shop to be covered in mud up to 1 meter deep, submerging all the motorbikes. For the past half month, we have only focused on scraping mud and cleaning up, and it was not until October 15 that we were able to arrange our houses and return to repair motorbikes for customers. However, most of the motorbikes were severely damaged, so the repairs took a lot of time."

Not far away, Mr. Thai Ba Anh's auto repair shop in Block 1, Muong Xen town is also bustling with customers coming and going. The four mechanics have been working without a minute of rest for the past few days, but the number of vehicles has not decreased at all.

Motorcycle repairmen in Ky Son district are overwhelmed with work after the historic flood. Photo: Quang An

Having just taken a break to drink some water, Mr. Anh said: "The number of motorbikes that people bring in for repair every day is from 7 to 10, it's too much to handle, there are times when we have to tell people to bring their motorbikes to other shops to save time, because if they bring them to our shop, they will have to wait for several days, even a week to get them back... then it will affect people's lives, because motorbikes are the main means of labor for people here."

Due to severe damage, on average, the shops can only repair about 5-6 cars per day. Photo: Quang An

According to the owners of motorbike repair shops in Muong Xen town, because the motorbikes have been soaked in mud and water for too long, they have to disassemble and redo many steps, such as cleaning the air filter, carburetor, clearing the exhaust pipe, wiping, shaking the engine, changing the oil... Just cleaning the layer of dried mud in each part takes 2-3 hours for each motorbike, not to mention the repair. Therefore, despite great efforts, on average each shop can only repair 5-6 motorbikes per day. While the number of motorbikes damaged after the flood is up to hundreds of motorbikes, the number of damaged motorbikes is still lying in front of the shops.

During the flash flood on the morning of October 2, hundreds of motorbikes were buried by floodwaters and rocks. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Not only motorbike repair services but also electronics, refrigeration, and household electrical repair shops... are also constantly crowded at this time. Assets such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, fans... are also piled up in front of the shops. Because they are mainly electronic devices, and have been soaked in water for a long time, repairing them is already difficult and even more difficult.

Mr. Tuyen, owner of an electrical repair shop in Muong Xen town, said: "After the flood, people broughtassetcame to fix so many, I couldn't count, after checking, many devices were completely damaged, the rest were slightly or severely damaged, I tried to fix them for the people, because everyone's house was damaged by the flood, if I had to leave now to buy a new one, where would the people up here have money... The hardest thing is that after the flood, electricity and water have always been unstable, so it's very difficult to fix a device."

Electronic and refrigeration equipment are also lined up at repair shops. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Many people are waiting, because repairing equipment after floods often takes a lot of time, while electricity and water are still unstable. Photo: Quang An

Sharing after the flood was also done by motorbike and electronic repair shops for people during this flood. According to the workers, they only charge for equipment and replacement parts, but for repair costs, they have reduced them from tens to hundreds of thousands of VND, even free repairs to share with people, hoping that people will soon overcome this difficult period to stabilize their lives./.