Nghe An urgently needs to repair traffic infrastructure after severe floods

Approaching the isolated village

From Pha Khao village, in the old Mai Son commune, now Nhon Mai commune, after 6 hours of walking through muddy landslides on Highway 16, Mr. Gia Chong Ho still could not reach Huoi Co village to visit his recently deceased relative.

The Old Man Chong Ho said, "I know it's dangerous, but I can't help but go because a family member has passed away so I have to take the risk."

Also on this route, due to the broken road and food shortage after many days of isolation, Mr. Va Pa Po and a group of young people from Nhon Mai village were forced to risk walking through the forest for many hours to reach Xoi Voi village to receive relief goods. Mr. Va Pa Po said, “It was very difficult, we could not transport anything. It was difficult to go empty-handed, let alone carry goods on our backs.”

Along the Nam Non River from My Ly commune to Nhon Mai, many villages were devastated by the flood on the night of July 22. Currently, hundreds of households are having to set up temporary shelters to stay through the day.

Mr. Le Hong Thai - Chairman of Nhon Mai Commune People's Committee said that as of July 29, the isolated villages could only be accessed by the commune's cadres, Border Guards and Commune Police. Due to dangerous landslides, broken and washed away roads, to reach the isolated villages, the forces had to wade through mud and walk for 5-10 hours to reach the people.

Efforts to improve the road traffic system

Nine days have passed since the flash flood, and road management units are still trying to restore traffic in the first phase. However, the consequences of the flood are enormous: 662 serious landslides with hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of rock and soil burying roads in the Nghe An border area. In particular, 16 faults have caused traffic jams and separation in seven communes on the Vietnam - Laos border, with estimated damage of more than 1,000 billion VND.

In Nhon Mai commune, Chairman of the People's Committee Le Hong Thai said that the damage to infrastructure after the flood in the commune is estimated at more than 530 billion VND. In addition to 5 rigid bridges being washed away, the National Highway 16 system and inter-village roads are also seriously damaged. For example, the section of National Highway 16 through Xoi Voi village is completely broken. The road at both ends of Huoi To 2 bridge is also completely washed away. The road connecting National Highway 16 to Na village is severely damaged. The road surface from Na Hy village to Pha Mut village is washed away in many sections. The damage to the negative slope of the residential area of ​​Huoi Xa, Huoi To 1, Huoi To 2 villages is estimated at about 46 billion VND...

Mr. Ngo Quoc Hung - Deputy Director of Trung Tin Road Management Company said: "Currently, the damage and deterioration of roads in Nhon Mai as well as other communes is very complicated, so we will gradually work on it until the route is open."

Currently, in parallel with the relief work for people in isolated villages, the government and functional forces in Nhon Mai are also working to overcome landslides and clear roads to the villages.

Mr. Hoang Quoc Truong - Director of Nghe An Road Maintenance Management Board said that due to the huge damage, the unit is mobilizing all road management units to open the first step to serve the travel needs of the people. In the long term, regarding solidification, we have to wait for capital to be available, from which we can restore the infrastructure to its previous state.

The temporary solution is only a temporary solution. To ensure safety and create conditions for sustainable development for the Western Nghe An region, a comprehensive and long-term strategy is needed, from re-planning residential areas, building a solid traffic system to improving the people's capacity to prevent natural disasters. Only then can we minimize the damage caused by floods in the future.