Nghe An urgently needs to repair transportation infrastructure after devastating floods.
The flash floods on July 22nd caused severe damage to seven border communes in Nghe An province, isolating dozens of villages. In Nhon Mai commune alone, five bridges were swept away by the flood, and National Highway 16 was severed. Authorities are working hard to repair the damage, prioritizing restoring traffic flow as soon as possible.
Reaching isolated villages
From Pha Khao village, formerly part of Mai Son commune (now Nhon Mai commune), after a six-hour trek through muddy landslide areas on National Highway 16, Mr. Gia Chong Ho still hasn't reached Huoi Co village to pay his respects to his recently deceased relative.
Old Man Chong Ho expressed, "I know it's dangerous, but I can't not go because a family member passed away, so I have to take the risk."
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Also along this route, due to the road being cut off and food supplies running out after days of isolation, 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 supplies. Va Pa Po said, "It was very difficult; we couldn't transport anything at all. It was hard enough to go empty-handed, let alone carry goods, which was even more arduous."
Along the Nam Non River, from My Ly commune to Nhon Mai, many villages were devastated by the flood on the night of July 22nd. Currently, hundreds of households are having to set up temporary shelters to live in.
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According to Mr. Le Hong Thai, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nhon Mai commune, as of July 29th, only commune officials, border guards, and commune police could reach the isolated villages. Due to dangerous landslides and broken or washed-away roads, the forces had to wade through mud and walk for 5-10 hours to reach the people in the isolated villages.
Efforts to improve the road transport system.
Nine days have passed since the flash flood, and road management units are still working to restore traffic in the first phase. However, the consequences of the flood are enormous: 662 serious landslides have buried roads in the border area of Nghe An province with hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of soil and rocks. In particular, 16 road breaks have caused traffic congestion and isolation in 7 border communes between Vietnam and Laos, with estimated damages exceeding 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 floods in the commune is estimated at over 530 billion VND. Besides 5 concrete bridges that were swept away, the National Highway 16 system and inter-village roads were also severely damaged. For example, the section of National Highway 16 through Xoi Voi village was completely broken. The roads at both ends of Huoi To 2 bridge were also completely washed away. The road connecting National Highway 16 to Na village was heavily damaged. The road surface from Na Hy village to Pha Mut village was washed away in many sections. Damage to the embankment slopes in the residential areas of Huoi Xa, Huoi To 1, and Huoi To 2 villages is estimated at approximately 46 billion VND…
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Mr. Ngo Quoc Hung, Deputy Director of Trung Tin Road Management Company, said: "Currently, the damage and deterioration of roads in Nhon Mai and other communes are very complex, so we are gradually working on them until the roads are open again."
Currently, alongside relief efforts for people in isolated villages, the authorities and relevant forces in Nhon Mai are also working to repair landslides and reopen roads to the villages.
Mr. Hoang Quoc Truong, Director of the Nghe An Road Maintenance Management Board, said that due to the extensive damage, the unit is mobilizing all road management units to reopen the roads in the first phase, serving the transportation needs of the people. In the long term, regarding road hardening, funding will be required before the infrastructure can be restored to its previous condition.
Temporary remedial measures are only stopgap solutions. To ensure safety and create conditions for sustainable development in Western Nghe An, a comprehensive and long-term strategy is needed, ranging from replanning residential areas and building a robust transportation system to enhancing the disaster prevention capacity of the people. Only then can we minimize the damage caused by floods in the future.
