Ky Son: Overcoming dozens of landslides before storm No. 6

After 2 weeks of the terrible flash flood, authorities and functional forcesKy Son districtPeople are taking advantage of every minute and every hour to try to overcome the damage.

Meanwhile, storm No. 6 is moving into the East Sea and will make landfall in the coming days, the storm circulation continues to cause widespread rain. Therefore, Ky Son district has mobilized all human resources and means to handle landslides, which are "time bombs" hanging in the air, threatening people's lives.

The house of a resident of Hoa Son village, Ta Ca commune, is precariously located on a hill that was eroded after the recent flash flood. Photo: Quang An

According to the reporter's records, in Ky Son district at this time, there are dozens of large and small landslides on the roads, such as Muong Xen - Tay Son, Chieu Luu - Bao Thang, Huu Lap - Bao Nam, Huoi Tu - Keng Du... At these points, the amount of soil and rock has weakened after the heavy rain in early October, therefore, if the weather continues to rain for a long time in the coming days, the risk of landslides will become more present, threatening hundreds of households.

Visiting the house of Mrs. Vi Thi Khuyen, Hoa Son village, Ta Ca commune, we saw a large amount of soil and rocks that had encroached on Mrs. Khuyen's house after the flood 2 weeks ago. Although the house had not been washed away, no one in the family dared to stay for fear of landslides.

Ms. Khuyen said: “For the past 2 weeks, my family had to move their belongings to temporarily stay at a relative’s house, because our house is at the foot of the hill, and the amount of soil and rocks that fell down close to the house after the previous rain, so no one dared to stay at this time…”.

Although Ms. Vi Thi Khuyen's house was not swept away, soil and rocks fell close to her house, forcing her family to evacuate for the past two weeks. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Vi Van Truyen - Head of Hoa Son village said: Along the road from Muong Xen town to Hoa Son and Son Ha villages, there are currently dozens of households living under landslides because the recent flash flood washed away the underlying layer. The locality has reported to the district leaders and encouraged households to move to a safe place, and at the same time, proposed to build a resettlement area for people, because this place cannot be lived in for a long time anymore.

Mr. Tho Ba Re - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district said: The two major floods in September and early October caused heavy damage to people, houses and property. Up to now, the recovery work has not been completed, but extreme weather continues to appear and is forecast to directly affect the locality, especially the expected storm No. 6 will cause prolonged rain, affecting landslides that were already weak after the recent flood.

Ky Son district has placed warning signs at landslide sites, requiring vehicles to limit their movement. Photo: Quang An

Currently, the district is mobilizing all means and human resources to level and scrape landslides to minimize the amount of soil and rocks that slide down when there is heavy rain. In addition to the district's machinery, the district is also mobilizing private and business machinery to work with local authorities to fix landslides, giving priority to weak and urgent points, especially points along the flash flood route that just occurred.

“In addition, the district has also directed the setting up of warning points in landslide areas for people to avoid. At the same time, units and commune authorities need to closely monitor the weather situation, especially heavy rains caused by storm No. 6, to have plans to urgently evacuate people to safe places, and absolutely not let people live in landslide areas if the rain continues,” Mr. Tho Ba Re emphasized.

Ky Son district mobilized machinery to level and handle landslides in the area before storm No. 6 made landfall. Photo: Quang An

According to records, not only the internal commune and village roads have landslides, but currently the national and provincial highways in Ky Son district also have many cracks and damage, affecting traffic and people's lives.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Luong - Head of the Road Management Department of Ky Son district said: "Currently, the most difficult thing is that the road from Muong Xen to Nam Can International Border Gate has many serious landslides. The unit is mobilizing all machinery to level the road. The main task is to clear the road, then fix the damaged areas to widen the lane for traffic. Currently, the unit is speeding up the completion progress before storm No. 6 makes landfall, because if heavy rain occurs, the repair work will encounter many difficulties and delays."