Flash floods, landslides: Time to worry again!

(Baonghean) - Tuong Duong district has steep mountainous terrain and many rivers and streams, so when there is sudden heavy rain, flash floods and landslides are very likely to occur. Currently, in the district, many families live near streams and mountains - places prone to landslides, and need to be relocated to safe places.

Na Be village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong) has two streams flowing through it, Ang stream and Tat stream. On both sides of these streams, there are many houses of the Kho Mu people living. Among them, many houses are at risk of being affected by flash floods. According to statistics from the People's Committee of Xa Luong commune, Na Be village has up to 13 households that must be relocated. Being present in Na Be village on a day at the end of September, we witnessed many people expressing their worries and insecurity before the coming flood season. Mr. Ven Van Son in Na Be village was worried: His family's stilt house was built here in 2002, at that time the stream bed was dozens of meters away from the house, but after many years of floods, the stream bank has gradually eroded, now the stream bed is close to the house foundation. Recently, village and commune officials came to survey, but so far no one has paid attention to solving the problem. Now, every time it rains heavily, no one in the family dares to sleep. They sit and watch, and if there is a flash flood, they proactively evacuate.

The family of Mr. Vi Van Kien, Na Be village, Xa Luong commune, built an embankment around the house to deal with flash floods.

On the other side of Ang stream, opposite Mr. Son's family, is the house of Mr. Vi Van Kien's family. Leading us to the front of the house, Mr. Kien said: During the heavy rains in early September, the water flooded the house's foundation. We were so scared that the couple bought cement, picked up rocks from the hills, and scooped up sand from the stream to build a ring around the house to block the flood. However, with the level of this embankment, only about 40 cm high, it can only block the water of Tat stream when it rains moderately, but when it rains heavily, it cannot stop the rapid flow of water from the high mountains. The most dangerous thing is when the water is muddy, carrying rocks and soil, rumbling down from the mountain, and human strength at that time is very small, there is no way to resist. What surprised us was that Mr. Kien's family's house was closest to Tat stream, but for some reason, the village and commune did not include it in the list of households at risk of flash floods?

Mr. Luong Van Thang, the village elder of Na Be village, led us to the rocky ground left by the flood last year, adding that the Tat stream used to be small, but later on, the stream became wider due to the rain and floods, causing erosion. The wider the stream, the higher the risk of affecting people's lives and property. Many families had their pig pens, chicken pens and outbuildings flattened by rocks and soil falling from the high mountains. Currently, along Tat stream, many families are living in fear of floods, such as the families of Vu Van Dinh, Noc Thi Chien, Moong Van Thach...

Nhon Mai commune currently has 8 households subject to relocation, of which 8 households are at risk of flash floods and 4 households are at risk of landslides. Every year, the locality propagates and mobilizes these households to relocate to safe places, but due to difficult family circumstances, they still stay there and refuse to move. To proactively respond to heavy rains, the commune has established many flood and storm prevention teams to support households in evacuating people and property to safe places. The locality hopes that the district will soon have support policies and coordinate with the locality to resolutely force these households to relocate to safe places.

Although Hoa Binh Town is the central area of ​​the district, it has the highest number of households at risk of flash floods and landslides, mainly those living on the slopes of National Highway 7. According to the report of the Town People's Committee, there are currently 29 households in the town that must be relocated to safe places. Of these, 18 households are at risk of flash floods and landslides; 11 households are at risk of landslides. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Trinh, in Hoa Dong block, one of the households at risk of landslides, worried: In previous years, landslides often occurred when there was prolonged heavy rain, affecting the family's property and crops. Therefore, when it rains heavily and continuously, the family proactively relocates property, livestock, and reinforces the house.

Yen Na commune has many streams, which means that many families living along the streams are at high risk of flash floods. Next to Ve stream of Na Khom village is the house of Mr. Kha Van Tinh's family. Mr. Tinh cannot help but worry: Every year, the stream flows rapidly, flooding the house up to a depth of nearly 1 meter. The family wants to move to a safer place, but they do not have the funds and cannot find a place to live.

Mr. Loc Ha Giang, Secretary of the Na Khom village Party Cell, said: The village currently has about 4-6 households at high risk of flash floods. It is very difficult to arrange these households to move to a safe place because the village has no more land for housing. The only way is for these households to buy garden land from other families to build houses. In fact, the circumstances of these families are very difficult, they cannot take care of themselves, the village really wants the authorities to help these households move to a safer place.

Thus, it can be seen that despite the high risk of loss of life and property due to flash floods, localities and even the people themselves are facing difficulties when considering relocation. Not only are there difficulties in terms of funding and land funds, but also due to the subjectivity of households and the indifference and lack of determination of some localities.

Talking to us, Mr. Lo Kham Kha, Head of the Agriculture Department of Tuong Duong district said: Flash floods, landslides often occur unexpectedly. The consequences are very serious, that is, houses are swept away by water, or buried in rocks and soil, even affecting human lives, if not handled promptly. Tuong Duong district has a mountainous terrain with large slopes, which means the risk of flash floods, landslides is very high, while the number of people living on both sides of streams is quite high. With the motto "prevention is the main thing", more than a month ago, implementing the direction of the District People's Committee, the Agriculture Department sent notices to the communes, checking and counting families at risk of flash floods, landslides, but until near the end of September, only a few communes had specific reports, many localities still did not have data sent to the department. The rainy season is approaching, and the Department of Agriculture is currently assigning each officer to directly coordinate with localities to conduct statistics. For households at high risk of flash floods, landslides, and landslides, the District People's Committee will allocate the budget for flood and storm prevention and control, and support money for relocation to new, safe places, according to the policy of the Provincial People's Committee. For commune and village authorities, they must arrange and allocate residential land for these households. If any locality no longer has communal land, they will mobilize brothers and relatives to reserve garden land for their family members to have safe places to live.

The rainy season is approaching, so Tuong Duong district needs to speed up the process of evacuating households at risk of flash floods, landslides, and landslides to safe places to avoid damage caused by floods. To do this well, in addition to timely support from the district, there must be strong participation from commune and village authorities and awareness from each person.

Article and photos:

Xuan Hoang