Hunger and thirst in the midst of historic floodwaters

(Baonghean.vn) -Never before have the people of the communes and wards of Hoang Mai town suffered such severe flooding. On the morning of October 2, the floodwaters began to recede, leaving behind a horrifying scene of people starving and thirsty amid the historic floodwaters.

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At dawn, the motorboat of the H15 Armored Brigade went upstream of the Hoang Mai River, carrying hundreds of boxes of instant noodles and dozens of tanks of clean water to support flood victims. Just leaving Hoang Mai Bridge, the motorboat swayed and swayed. On both sides of the river, many hands were raised asking for help. When finding a safe landing place, the boat commander immediately ordered to dock. Dozens of people immediately ran to the water's edge to receive instant noodles and clean water. "The water came so fast, my house was flooded up to the roof, I had to stay on the roof all night. I drank rainwater, went hungry, and had to send my two small children to a neighbor's house. Everything was swept away by the flood", Ms. Le Thi Loc in Hamlet 12, Mai Hung Ward cried when the relief team brought instant noodles to her house.

Mrs. Loc's dilapidated house was covered in a layer of soft mud. In the middle of the house, a pile of rice was flooded and completely ruined. In the garden, chickens and ducks were dead, and her sow was also swept away by the water. All morning when the water receded, Mrs. Loc tried to scoop up flood water to wash away the mud, but the situation was very miserable. Currently, her entire family is living on half a carton of instant noodles and a few bottles of rescue soft drinks. The entire well and rice of the family are submerged in flood water and completely ruined.

Mrs. Loc's family was heartbroken with the pile of rice mixed with mud.

Not far from Mrs. Loc’s house, Ms. Le Thi Hien was struggling to carry her family’s drowned deer from the pen to the yard. The house had several deer, and when the water flooded so quickly, her family was unable to react in time, and the deer drowned. Next to the deer pen were dozens of chickens also dead in the murky mud.

Ms. Hien was heartbroken over the deer, a great asset of the family, that died.

Almost every house had chickens and ducks killed by flood water.

In block 18, the rescuers could not hold back their tears when they saw Nguyen Ba Tuan, a 4th grader, receiving instant noodles while taking advantage of the sunny weather to dry his wet, muddy books and notebooks. When many people said that these books and notebooks could no longer be used, Tuan burst into tears. Many other children, seeing this, did not bother to receive instant noodles anymore and returned home to collect their books and notebooks to read.

Nguyen Ba Tuan was absent-mindedly sitting next to a pile of wet books.

Hamlet 18, Quynh Vinh commune, is located next to Hoang Mai river. When the water poured in, the whole hamlet was deeply flooded. Ms. Nguyen Thi Luyen and her 3 children, the youngest of whom was only 3 months old, were home alone, her husband was working far away. The flood came at night, she only had time to carry her children to the attic, all the rice and paddy were floating in the water. Having been hungry all day, she still tried to crawl out to call for help. Her house had a high fence, the rescue boat could not reach on the night of October 1, so the neighbor's family had to pack a bag of white rice and swim over to give it to her and her children. When they saw the mother and children eating voraciously, the kind neighbor's family called for emergency help.

Upon receiving the news, Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu, Chief of the Standing Office of the Provincial Flood and Storm Prevention and Search and Rescue Committee, and Colonel Ha Tan Tien, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Provincial Military Command, decided to go down to the highway and bring instant noodles to provide relief. Colonel Tien and Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu personally swam into Ms. Luyen's house to check the situation. When they saw that the mother and her children were all safe in the attic, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Receiving instant noodles and water, Ms. Luyen decided to stay in the attic and wait for the water to recede,...

On October 2, although the floodwaters had receded by about 2 meters, many households in Quynh Vinh commune were still isolated. People still had to wait for rescue forces to come and save them from starvation. Along the flooded area, water from upstream still poured in, flowing rapidly. The sound of motorboats, people calling for instant noodles and clean water mixed with the roaring of livestock and poultry made the scene even more desolate and miserable.

Painful eyes, crying arms from the flood area of ​​Hoang Mai.

Not only Mai Hung and Quynh Vinh, but also communes such as Quynh Trang, Quynh Di, Quynh Dien and some hamlets along the creek of Quynh Thien commune are still deeply flooded. Although the weather has cleared up, the rain has stopped, and the reservoir has stopped releasing floodwaters, the water is still receding quite slowly. Many people are taking advantage of the receding water to clean up their belongings. Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuy, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town, said that the biggest difficulty for Hoang Mai residents at present is the lack of clean water, food and medicine.

Water tanks and wells turned red because of flooding.

The flood is gradually receding, revealing patches of red mud and fallen trees and fences. The entire flooded area of ​​Hoang Mai town is covered in a miserable, pitiful color. The people in the flooded area are in dire need of sympathy.

Nguyen Khoa