Floodwaters rise, nearly 300 schools in Nghe An have to close

Stay up all night to escape the flood

From 2am on September 29, the floodwaters rose suddenly, causing the entire schoolyard at Vo Liet Primary School (Thanh Chuong) to be submerged in water. Located near the river and having experience in dealing with previous flood seasons, from the afternoon of September 28, the school's Board of Directors assigned teachers to stay on duty to prevent storms. When the water started to rise, many other teachers near the school were also mobilized to quickly move some tables, chairs, and machinery to higher ground to avoid damage.

Vo Liet Primary School had to move its assets to higher ground to avoid flooding. Photo: CSCC

Sharing about this, teacher Nguyen Thi Lan Anh - Principal of the school said: Heavy rain and rising water quickly, in just a short time, flooded to the threshold of each classroom. To protect the school's property, teachers stayed up almost all night to move school supplies. By this morning, the water had basically receded and there was no damage to property.

Last night, heavy rain fell across Thanh Chuong district and many schools had to stay up all night to protect their property. Initial statistics show that many schools were damaged by the flood, including Thanh Tien Primary School, where nearly 30 meters of the fence collapsed and many other sections were cracked, at risk of further collapse.

Forces in Vo Liet commune were mobilized from midnight to evacuate assets. Photo: CSCC

At Thanh Ngoc Primary School, since 1am yesterday, teachers and parents have been working together to clean up after the flood collapsed the fence and flooded classrooms.

Teacher Trinh Thi Thanh Hai - Principal of Thanh Ngoc Primary School said: The school is located next to a ravine, so last night, heavy rain caused floodwaters to collapse a section of the fence and then the water rushed into the school very quickly, leaving us unable to react. At the highest point, the water level in the classroom was 1 meter high. Currently, all 15 computers in the computer room have been moved, but we are afraid that they may be damaged due to rainwater seepage.

Many properties at Thanh Ngoc Primary School were damaged. Photo: CSCC

After the flood, many computers at Thanh Ngoc Primary School were flooded because many classrooms and offices were flooded nearly 1 meter deep. Photo: CSCC

Speaking with Nghe An Newspaper on the morning of September 29, Mr. Phan Thai Hung - Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Thanh Chuong district said: Since last night,heavy rainthroughout Thanh Chuong district, causing many places to be flooded and impassable. In addition, many schools were flooded and some properties were damaged. For now, the department has directed schools to let students stay home and mobilize other forces to clean up the classrooms.

Many localities let students stay home from school.

In Con Cuong district, the floodwaters rose rapidly, cutting off many roads, making it impossible for students to go to school. Through discussion, teacher Nguyen Van Hao - Principal of Luc Da Secondary School said: It has been many years since there was such a heavy rain. Currently, all roads from Met village, Tan Hop village, Yen Hoan village, Luc Son village, Khe Moi village, Xang village... have been cut off due to flooding of spillways. To ensure the safety of students, from early morning we used electronic contact books, Zalo and Facebook to notify students to stay home from school. In addition, we coordinated with local authorities to assign forces to be on duty at spillways to notify students not to go to school during floods.

Floodwaters have caused many spillways in Con Cuong district to be inundated, preventing students from going to school. Photo: CSCC

This morning, over 90% of schools in Con Cuong district have closed. Mr. Nguyen Thanh An - Head of the district's Department of Education and Training said: Currently, many localities in the district are flooded such as Mon Son, Thach Ngan, Luc Da.

In addition, heavy rain and rising river water caused landslides along Highway 7 (Lang Khe commune) and many roads in the interior were cut off... Students in many communes have been notified to stay home from school until safety is assured.

The fence of Thanh Tien Primary School collapsed due to floods. Photo: CSCC

Heavy rain and strong winds also caused minor damage to many schools in Quynh Luu district and forced all schools in the district to close on the morning of September 29. Mr. Tran Xuan Nhuong - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Quynh Luu district said: Ensuring the safety of teachers and students is the school's top priority and students are temporarily off school until the weather is favorable. We have asked schools to quickly report the damage and find solutions to fix it soon.

Summarizing the flood situation this morning, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training said: Currently, the whole province has 284 schools that let students stay home from school, including 91 preschools, 88 primary schools, 79 secondary schools and 26 high schools. There are two districts that let students stay home from school completely, Quynh Luu and Tan Ky.

Teachers at Vo Liet Primary School are dealing with the consequences of floods. Photo: CSCC

After the flood, mud flooded the school yard and many classrooms at Thanh Ngoc Primary School (Thanh Chuong). Photo: CSCC

The Department has directed schools to proactively let students stay home from school, paying special attention to the possibility of landslides or areas at risk of flash floods.

To ensure safety, schools also need to have plans during the rainy season to avoid being passive in handling unusual situations. After the flood ends, it is necessary to clean the environment well, avoid epidemics and organize make-up classes if schools have to close for a long time.