Emergency rescue for flood victims in Hoang Mai

(Baonghean.vn) -Due to the heavy rainfall combined with the flood discharge at Vuc Mau lake, nearly 4,000 households in Hoang Mai town were isolated. It is still raining very heavily, requiring more urgent rescue work than ever.

As of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, thousands of vehicles were blocked on the Quynh Luu route to Hoang Mai Town, and thousands of households were isolated by the flood. The Provincial People's Committee, all levels of agencies, and Hoang Mai Town are making every effort to rescue people in this emergency.

From the afternoon of September 30 to the morning of October 1, the rainfall in Hoang Mai Town was very large, measuring 540 mm. Water from the streams poured in, causing the Vuc Mau reservoir with a capacity of over 75 million m3 of water to quickly fill up at an emergency alert level. Faced with this situation, the Bac Irrigation Company Limited directed the Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise to release floodwaters from 5 gates to ensure the safety of the reservoir. The released water caused flooding in the downstream area, the communes of Quynh Vinh and Quynh Thien were completely isolated in floodwaters... many households had water up to their windows and roofs.

Traffic was completely paralyzed due to ice flooding across the highway.

Right in Cau Giat Town and the communes of Quynh Van, Quynh Xuan..., thousands of vehicles are stuck in traffic. Major Vo Quang Trung - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police of Quynh Luu District said: The section of National Highway 1A through Hoang Mai Town in Mai Hung and Quynh Thien areas is nearly 1 meter deep, so it is very dangerous. The traffic police team has been stationed at 4 points along the road, strictly prohibiting vehicles from passing. At about 2:20 p.m. in Quynh Xuan, torrential rain caused the National Highway 1A under construction to overflow quickly, causing erosion into many households. Mr. Nguyen Nam in Quynh Xuan said: At about 11 p.m., water suddenly overflowed quickly through National Highway 1A, flowing rapidly, causing the porch of the house to collapse. When we approached Quynh Thien Commune, the floodwaters were flowing rapidly, and the traffic police firmly refused to let us drive our motorbikes because it was too dangerous.

We have taken some pictures of the flood isolated Mai Hung ward taken by Mr. Bui Van Hao - Director of Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise while passing Mai Hung to Vuc Mau lake when the flood isolated us. Mr. Bui Van Hao connected the phone to Mr. Lam Phi in block 12 of Mai Hung ward. Mr. Phi said: "The flood water rose so quickly that the whole village was submerged in water, only my house is on the highest mound so it has not been flooded yet. Currently, there are nearly 20 people from block 12 coming to my house to avoid the flood. The rain is still heavy, the water continues to rise, I am afraid it will also be flooded and I don't know where to take shelter because we are all isolated.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai - a resident here worriedly said: The family with 3 small children were all brought to Mr. Lam Phi's house, but the house was submerged almost to the roof, pigs and chickens all died in the flood, nearly 700 kg of dried rice is now submerged. It's very sad but what can we do for him, human life is more important. Ms. Hai added that the rice is all wet and there is nothing to eat, this afternoon 2 officers of Quynh Luu Irrigation Enterprise gave 2 boxes of instant noodles to the people. If the water continues to rise, we don't know where we can move, what will we get to eat.

We contacted Mr. Dau Si Hien - Chairman of Mai Hung Ward by phone, his wife, Vu Thi Giang in Block 11, answered the phone. Ms. Giang said that Mr. Hien was going to rescue people in the flood. My house is on the highest mound in the village, but the water has flooded the kitchen, many households have water up to the roof tiles. Currently, my family has 5 households coming to avoid the flood, including Mrs. Bac Linh's family, Ms. Ly Thien, Ms. Thuong Canh... The biggest difficulty now is that the amount of rice in the family is almost gone and there is no food, people have to eat rice with salt and fish sauce to survive.

People wading in water

Mr. Le Si Chien - Vice Chairman of Hoang Mai Town People's Committee said: Due to flood discharge, the water level is rising, as of 4:30 pm this afternoon, nearly 4,000 households are isolated by flood water, most of the water is up to the windows, many houses have flooded the tile roofs. In Quynh Thien commune alone, nearly 1,000 households are flooded, Quynh Trang commune has 900 households flooded... In the above situation, the Town has directed the localities to provide on-site rescue. Mainly, the local militia and self-defense forces take shelter of the elderly, children, and poor families in high-rise buildings. The Provincial Flood and Storm Prevention Committee and all levels of the industry have mobilized 10 canoes to rescue those still trapped on the roofs. Up to this point, hundreds of people trapped on roofs and walls have been rescued. It is known that all 10 canoes have leaders of Hoang Mai town along with the police and soldiers directly rescuing people. In addition to moving on the spot, households were also taken to Highway 1 to take shelter in high-rise buildings.

Van Truong