Rice, fish, and shrimp were swept away by the floodwaters, leaving farmers empty-handed.

Pigs die, hundreds of tons of rice flooded.

After being submerged for a day and a night, only one pig survived in his entire herd. Mr. Thai Van Lan, from Trung Xa hamlet, Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, had to use a boat to transport the pig to the edge of the hamlet, asking an acquaintance to take it to Cao Son hamlet – a higher area – for temporary shelter. In the hamlet, many households had invested in raising hundreds of thousands of fish, almost ready for harvest, but all were swept away by the floodwaters into the fields.

Residents of Vinh Thanh commune (Yen Thanh district) help each other "evacuate" pigs. Photo: Phu Huong

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Thanh commune, said: Vinh Thanh is considered the "waterlogged area" of Yen Thanh district. When it rains heavily, the water rises slowly, but after the rain, water from other areas rushes in and rises very quickly. In just one hour at the end of the afternoon on September 30th, the water level rose by an additional 20 centimeters.

A quick survey shows that in Vinh Thanh commune, 450 households have had their homes flooded. 50 hectares of aquaculture farms, including 40 hectares of ponds and lakes, and the remainder used for fish and rice cultivation, have been completely submerged and lost. Many households that invested heavily in raising snakehead and tilapia have suffered very heavy losses.

With their house deeply flooded, the 800 kg of rice belonging to Ms. Hoang Thi Hong's family has been completely ruined. Photo: Phu Huong

Although she evacuated to a relative's house, Ms. Hoang Thi Hong from Phu Dien hamlet still wades through floodwaters to return home every day; not only all her belongings but also nearly 800 kilograms of rice were submerged. "My husband was away, and when we heard about the flood, my daughter and I couldn't escape in time. The water reached two-thirds of the rice container; it will probably take a week for the water to recede completely, so even if the rice dries, it will only be good for the chickens and ducks to eat," Ms. Hong lamented.

Despite prior precautions, many households had raised their rice crops up to three times but still couldn't keep up with the rising water levels; nearly 100 tons of dried summer-autumn rice in the entire commune were submerged and severely damaged. Residents of Vinh Thanh commune said that it had been almost 44 years, since 1978, since they had experienced such a major flood.

Shrimp ponds and fish ponds are completely clean.

In just one night, Hoang Ba Aquatic Products Company in Hamlet 7, Dien Ky Commune, Dien Chau District suffered losses of over 800 million VND; dozens of ponds and 6 hectares of shrimp farms were swept away by the flood.floodwaters.

The few remaining shrimp at Hoang Ba Shrimp Farm in Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau district). Photo: Phu Huong

“One million shrimp larvae were released nearly two months ago; the shrimp are now as big as cigarettes, and will be ready for harvest in about two more months. Another batch, also one million larvae, costing 125 million dong just for the larvae, was released 28 days ago, and they all ended up in the river and the sea,” said the business owner, Mr. Hoang Ngoc Ba, sadly. On the afternoon of September 30th, in just a few hours, the entire shrimp pond was swept away.

"The sea level is rising, the tides are high, the rivers can't drain the water properly, and there's no way to deal with the flooding," Mr. Ba said.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Ba checks the motor system on the shrimp farm. Photo: Phu Huong

Flooding has occurred many times before, but usually only 1-2 ponds were submerged, with water level reaching the edges. Having been raising shrimp for 6 years, the worst year was 2020, when the business suffered losses exceeding 300 million VND. This time, not only 2 million shrimp fry but also 48 motors, 5 pumps, and all the lime and other products were submerged and damaged.

In Dien Chau district, 812 hectares of aquaculture farms were flooded, with 743 hectares suffering over 70% damage. In Dien Van commune, the floods also swept away 65 hectares of aquaculture farms in Dong Phu, Trung Hau, and Xuan Bac hamlets, including 20 hectares of shrimp farms and the rest being freshwater fish farms. Mr. Hoang Ngoc Hai, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: 17 hectares of brackish water farms raising sea bass were stocked at the beginning of the year and will be harvested at the end of October (lunar calendar) and continue until the end of January; most of the shrimp farms have been stocked for 1.5-2 months, and some ponds are almost ready for harvest but haven't been harvested yet because freshwater fish are mainly harvested closer to Tet (Lunar New Year).

People from Dien Kim commune went fishing in Dien Van commune. According to them, there were a lot of fish coming out, and some even used nets to catch them. Photo: Phu Huong

“The sea bass farming area in Dong Phu hamlet has been operating for 10 years, but this is the first year we've suffered losses due to floods. The most severe damage is to households raising shrimp and sea bass, with some households like Mr. Ban and Mr. Hau Luan each raising about 5,000 m².²"If we wait until the end of the season, the revenue will reach hundreds of millions of dong," Mr. Hai said.