Nghe An: Many people lose hundreds of millions of dong due to floods.

Overnight, hundreds of millions of dong were swept away by the floodwaters.

In just one night, floodwaters rose, causing farmers to lose hundreds of millions of dong as livestock and poultry died or were swept away by the water. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Although the rain had stopped, his duck farm...Hoang Van Ngoc(Bàu Nón, Quy Chính, Nam Đàn town) remains surrounded on all sides by floodwaters. In just one night, nearly 1,000 ducks ready for market drowned in the floodwaters; 1 ton of animal feed also became waterlogged and moldy.

“At 6 pm on September 28th, when I checked the farm, everything seemed fine, so I confidently handed it over to the workers on duty. Around 9 pm, I checked the cameras and saw the water starting to rise and flooding the farm. Then, the workers called to report a power outage, bought 100 liters of fuel, and rushed into the farm to start the generator, but then the water came pouring in. There was no way to react; the water flooded the coop, sweeping away the ducks. The water reached chest level, so we couldn't risk saving them. About 400 ducks died that night, and scattered throughout the night, another 600 ducks got sick from the water and died,” recounted Hoàng Văn Ngọc, visibly distraught.

Mr. Ngoc's farm in Nam Dan town has 8,000 ducks, but as many as 1,000 died from suffocation in the floodwaters. The remaining ducks are ready for market but are surrounded by floodwaters, making it difficult to sell them. (Photo: Thanh Phuc)

According to Mr. Ngoc, all the dead ducks had reached a weight of 3.5-3.7 kg each and were expected to be ready for market in the next few days. Traders had even called to place deposits, but the water rose so quickly that in just one night, 1,000 ducks drowned. The initial loss amounts to 200 million VND. Notably, even after three days of rising water, his duck farm remains completely isolated amidst the vast expanse of water.

“Every day, 7,000 ducks, already past their market-ready age by 5-7 days, cost about 45-50 million VND in feed. When we call traders to buy them, they force down the price. We accept selling at a lower price than the market rate, but because of the deep flooding, trucks can't get to the farm, so we have to rent boats and hire people to carry the ducks out. Just yesterday (September 30th), we sold 1,200 ducks, and renting boats and hiring workers to transport them out of the farm cost more than 10 million VND. This batch of ducks is a huge loss,” Mr. Ngoc said.

To sell his ducks, reduce costs, and cut losses, Mr. Ngoc was forced to hire boats to transport them out of the flooded area at a high price. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Starting the farm in 2021 with nearly 4 billion VND in capital, mostly borrowed money, they thought that with hard work, diligence, and a willingness to think outside the box, they would soon have enough money to pay off their debts, expand their scale, and become wealthy on their homeland. But natural disasters are unpredictable; in just one night, hundreds of millions of VND were gone…

At 2 AM on September 29th, heavy rain continued. Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich (Yen Xuan hamlet, Thanh Ngoc commune,Thanh Chuong districtShe left her young children with their grandparents and, despite the torrential rain and howling wind, rushed to the chicken farm to salvage her belongings. Upon reaching the farm, the water was waist-deep, and the pig and chicken coops were gradually sinking into the vast floodwaters. She called the commune authorities and urged neighbors to come and help. The commune's emergency response team and neighbors worked through the night to evacuate the pigs, 4 tons of rice, and 80 bags of animal feed. However, the 500 chickens could not be saved.

Authorities, residents, and various forces joined hands with local people to rescue livestock and poultry from the flooded areas, minimizing losses as much as possible. Photo: CSCC

“500 chickens, including 40 laying hens and the rest being broiler chickens raised for nearly four months, each weighing almost 2 kg, couldn't be evacuated in time. When morning came and we went to the farm, only 100 chickens remained, dead from suffocation, lying scattered on the muddy ground. The rest had been swept away by the floodwaters. All our capital and hard work are gone…,” Ms. Bich lamented.

Thousands of hectares of winter crops are submerged in floodwaters.

Areas of winter crops are submerged in floodwaters. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Kim Nam (Nam Anh, Nam Dan) had just planted 1 sao (approximately 1000 square meters) of tomatoes, 2 sao of beets, 2 sao of carrots, 1 sao of celery, 1 sao of cabbage, 2 sao of cauliflower, and 2 sao of kale, spending tens of millions of dong on seeds and fertilizer. However, just as the seedlings sprouted, the entire planted area was hit by heavy rain, flooding the greenhouses and net houses. All the vegetables were destroyed, their roots rotted, and they died from waterlogging; all the phosphorus fertilizer was washed away. Everything was lost.

Mr. Nam said: “The road to the farm is deeply flooded. Checking the cameras, we know the greenhouse is submerged, but there’s nothing we can do to save it. We can only watch helplessly as the water sweeps it away… Now we just have to wait for the water to recede so we can prepare the soil and replant the seeds in time for the Tet holiday.”

Deep floodwaters caused the melons to rot. Many greenhouses and net houses suffered total losses of hundreds of millions of dong. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Sharing the same fate, the entire area of ​​strawberries, cucumbers, cabbage, and cauliflower in the greenhouses of Phu Thinh Cooperative (Hung Thanh commune, Hung Nguyen district) was also submerged in water. “The initial estimated damage is over 100 million VND. Now that the area is deeply flooded, we can't go over to check, so the machinery, equipment, fertilizer, and greenhouse system are all submerged and damaged, potentially causing losses of billions of VND,” lamented Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Director of the Cooperative.

The heavy rains and floods in recent days have affected the entire area.winter cropsDeeply submerged in water, some areas suffered total crop loss, while in other regions, even less severe damage reached 70%. The deep flooding and persistent rain meant that crops were submerged for extended periods, leading to waterlogging, root rot, and wilting. The damage was considerable.

Residents of Quynh Lien commune (Hoang Mai town) are urgently harvesting vegetables to escape the flood. Photo: Thanh Yen.

Not only greenhouses, net houses, farms, and smallholdings, but also localities suffered heavy losses in winter crop production.

According to a preliminary report from the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, as of the morning of October 1st, agricultural production losses were quite severe. Specifically, the breakdown is as follows: Crop production: Rice: 1,661.4 ha; Vegetables: 8,146.53 ha; Industrial crops: 152.8 ha; Perennial crops: 119.5 ha; Annual crops: 1,735.32 ha; Fruit trees: 270.7 ha.

Regarding livestock: 411 head of cattle were killed or swept away; 82,999 poultry were killed or swept away; 56 barns and shelters were damaged. Forecasts indicate continued heavy to very heavy rain today and tomorrow, with rising river levels and ongoing flooding risks. Therefore, people need to proactively protect their property. Local authorities should also have plans in place to mitigate the damage and proactively restore production and livestock farming.