Tears of Vinh market...

(Baonghean.vn)- At midnight, it was pouring rain. Hearing the announcement that the market was flooded, traders rushed to the market to save their goods but were helpless as the water poured in. In a moment, their goods turned into trash, and people were left empty-handed.

On the morning of October 10, the water almost reached the roof of the communal house west of Vinh market, goods were floating. Photo: PV

Vinh market, one day after the historic flood, is still full of trash. Trash from votive offerings, dyes, rice, corn, potatoes, vegetables mixed with votive offerings, candy, MSG... turned into mud covering both sides of the road leading to the market.

Sitting absentmindedly next to a pile of garbage that only a few days ago was worth hundreds of millions of dong, Ms. Dung - the owner of an agricultural product store in the communal house west of Vinh market could only sigh in frustration. At 0:00 a.m. on October 10, she heard the Management Board announce that the water was flooding, the whole family rushed there, carrying rice and paddy all night to the market communal house. But only 2 hours later, she had to give up and run for her life, the water rose and the goods sank.

“The water level rose too high, even though the police and soldiers of Hong Son ward came to help people, it was too late, more than half of the stalls were damaged, I only had one stall, but if a house had four stalls like Nhan Bay’s, the damage would be billions of dong, I didn’t know what to do. The next day when the water receded, we went to the market and asked the trucks to take the goods to dump, at first I announced to sell 5,000 VND/kilo of beans and soaked rice but no one bought, in the afternoon I had to ask a car to come and dump them according to regulations so that the market could return to normal soon. Seeing the car take the trash away, my heart ached,” Dung said as if she was about to cry.

The feeling of bewilderment was clearly visible on the faces of the traders at Vinh market. They had no idea what to do next. Photo: QA

Not far from Dung's kiosk is Hoang Thi Huong's dry goods and grocery store. When the reporter came to visit, she burst into tears: "There are food stalls that cost hundreds of thousands of VND/kg. Dried goods like squid, fish, and seafood are also very expensive, but after soaking in water, they have to be thrown away. My family has run out of capital. No one will give me anything, but I feel sorry for my children. Looking at the stall, I can only cry."

Ms. Hoang Thi Huong sobbed over the damage to her house. Photo: QA

Wading through the pile of rubbish, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Dong Vinh ward, still could not believe that her whole family had lost everything after just one night of rain. That night, upon hearing the announcement, she woke up the whole family and braved the rain to rescue the goods, but it was too late. At 3am, the water was up to her chest, the goods were floating, it was dark, and no one could do anything.

Ms. Hien, a kiosk owner living in Hong Son Ward, confided that small traders like her who do business at the secondary communal house are already in a difficult situation and cannot afford to buy a kiosk at the main communal house above. Many families are in debt for goods, and many households are borrowing from banks to do business. For the past few years, business has been sluggish, but there is no better way to make a living, so they still stick to the market to make a living. "Business is already difficult, and now the weather is not merciful. No one thought that after just one night of rain, their assets would turn into trash like this. I don't know how we will get back up tomorrow," Ms. Hien could not hold back her tears.

Garbage and goods piled up after the flood at Vinh market. Photo: QA

According to statistics, the flood on the night of October 9th caused more than 1,500 kiosks of small traders to be flooded. Rows of goods such as seafood, votive offerings, fruits, and agricultural products were soaked in water and lost. That night, some people tried to salvage some of their goods and carried a few items to the main temple, but some rows of goods such as dried fish and brooms were not notified, so the next day when they arrived at the market, they only saw vast murky water and could not save anything. The total damage according to initial estimates was about more than 3 billion VND.

On the afternoon of October 11, with the support of sanitation workers and market management, traders continued to rent cars to clean up trash from the market, clean the kiosks, and wash away the mud with water. When asked about when they would resume trading, many people shook their heads. Before, traders at Vinh market were only worried about fires, but now they also have to worry about flooding, while storms and floods continue to pour in...

Quang An