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

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

After just one night, the floodwaters rose, farmers lost hundreds of millions of dong when livestock and poultry died and were swept away by the water. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Although the rain has stopped, his duck farm is still wet.Hoang Van Ngoc(Bau Non, Quy Chinh, Nam Dan town) is still surrounded by floodwaters on all sides. In just one night, nearly 1,000 ducks ready for sale drowned in floodwaters; 1 ton of animal feed was also soaked with water and covered in mold.

“At 6pm on September 28, I checked the farm and found nothing wrong, so I felt secure in handing it over to the workers on duty at the farm. At around 9am, I checked the camera and saw that the water had started to rise and flood into the farm. After that, the workers called to report a power outage and bought 100 liters of oil to run into the farm to start the generator, but the water poured back. There was no way to do anything, the water flooded into the barn, taking the flock of ducks with it. The water was up to their chests, so they couldn’t risk saving the ducks. About 400 died that night, and after that, about 600 more ducks got wet, got sick, and died,” Hoang Van Ngoc recounted in a daze.

Ngoc's farm in Nam Dan town has 8,000 ducks, of which 1,000 suffocated in floodwaters. The ducks are now ready to be sold, but are surrounded by floodwaters, making it difficult to sell. Photo: Thanh Phuc

According to Mr. Ngoc, all the dead ducks weighed 3.5 - 3.7 kg each, and were expected to be sold in the next few days. Traders had also called to make a deposit, but the water rose quickly, and in just one night, 1,000 ducks drowned. The initial damage was up to 200 million VND. It is worth mentioning that after 3 days of rising water, his duck farm is still completely isolated in the middle of the vast water.

“Every day, 7,000 ducks are 5-7 days past their prime, costing about 45-50 million VND in feed. We called traders to buy them, but they forced down the price. We agreed to sell at a lower price than the market price, but because the flood was so deep, vehicles could not get to the farm, so to transport the ducks out of the farm, we had to rent a boat and hire porters. Yesterday alone (September 30), we sold 1,200 ducks, rented a boat, and hired workers to transport the ducks out of the farm, costing more than 10 million VND. This batch of ducks is considered a heavy loss,” said Mr. Ngoc.

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

Started building the farm in 2021 with a capital of nearly 4 billion VND, most of which was borrowed. I thought that if I was diligent, hard-working, daring to think and dare to do, I would soon have money to pay off the debt, have money to expand the scale, and get rich on my homeland. But natural disasters are unpredictable, in just one night, hundreds of millions of VND were gone...

2am September 29, heavy rain continued, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich (Yen Xuan hamlet, Thanh Ngoc commune,Thanh Chuong district) left her children with her grandparents, despite the pouring rain and the wind, to run to the chicken farm to save her belongings. When she got to the farm, the water was waist-high, and the pig pen and chicken coop were gradually sinking in the vast floodwaters. She called the commune, calling on the surrounding people to come and help. The commune's shock force and neighbors worked all night to evacuate the pigs, 4 tons of rice, and 80 bags of animal feed. However, the flock of 500 chickens could not be saved in time.

The government, people and forces joined hands with people to rescue livestock and poultry from flooded areas, minimizing damage. Photo: CSCC

“500 chickens, including 40 laying hens, the rest were meat chickens raised for nearly 4 months, each weighing nearly 2 kg, were not evacuated in time. When morning came, only 100 chickens were left dead from drowning, lying scattered on the muddy ground, the remaining chickens were swept away by the flood. All the capital and effort had been washed away…”, Ms. Bich lamented.

Thousands of hectares of winter crops submerged in floodwaters

Winter crop area submerged in flood water. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Kim Nam (Nam Anh, Nam Dan) has just planted 1 sao of tomatoes, 2 sao of beets, 2 sao of carrots, 1 sao of celery, 1 sao of cabbage, 2 sao of cauliflower, 2 sao of kale, with the cost of seeds and fertilizers reaching tens of millions of dong. However, as soon as the seedlings sprouted, the entire planted area encountered heavy rain, water flooded the greenhouse and net house, causing deep flooding. All the vegetables were crushed, rotten at the roots, and died; all the phosphate fertilizer was washed away. Everything was lost.

Mr. Nam said: “The road to the farm is deeply flooded. I checked the camera and saw that the greenhouse was flooded, but there was no way to save it. I had to watch the water wash away… Now I just have to wait for the water to recede to treat the soil and replant seeds in time to sell for Tet.”

The floodwaters were so deep that the melons soaked in the water rotted. Many greenhouses and net houses lost hundreds of millions of dong. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In the same situation, the entire area of ​​strawberries, cucumbers, cabbages, and cauliflowers in the greenhouse of Phu Thinh Cooperative (Hung Thanh Commune, Hung Nguyen) was also submerged in water. "The initial estimated damage is more than 100 million VND. Now the other side is deeply flooded, and we cannot go there to check, so the machinery, equipment, phosphate fertilizers, and greenhouse systems are submerged in water. If damaged, the damage will be up to billions of VND," said Nguyen Van Son, Director of the Cooperative.

The rain and floods of the past few days have caused the entire area to be flooded.winter cropsDeeply flooded, some places have total loss, some areas have less damage up to 70%. Deep flood, the weather is not dry so plants soaked in water for a long time will be waterlogged, roots will rot, and wither. The damage is not small.

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

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

According to a quick report from the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, as of the morning of October 1, the damage to agricultural production was quite severe. Specifically as follows: Regarding cultivation: Rice: 1,661.4 ha; Vegetable crops: 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 cattle died or were swept away; 82,999 poultry died or were swept away; 56 barns were damaged. It is forecasted that today and tomorrow, there will continue to be heavy to very heavy rain, river water will continue to rise, and the risk of flooding will continue. Therefore, people need to have proactive plans to protect their property. At the same time, localities also have plans to overcome and proactively restore production and livestock./.