“Living with floods”: Experience in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen

(Baonghean)After many years of "living with floods", people in the communes outside Ta Lam dike have gained valuable experience and many solutions to protect themselves and their property.

Hung Nhan (Hung Nguyen) is a commune that has to suffer the devastation of natural disasters every year. The mentality of "living with floods" was also formed from the days when the whole family sat on the roof, ate each instant noodle package and waited for the water to recede. Crops were lost, houses and belongings were swept away by floods and many people died. People have drawn valuable experiences for themselves to cope with natural disasters.

Flood control and attic in the house to store food in Hung Nhan commune.

Ms. Hoa Thi Lien, hamlet 4, Hung Nhan commune, pointed to the water level at the window of the October 2011 flood that was still imprinted on the wall: “Last year, the flood entered the house and reached here, but my whole family did not lose any furniture or belongings. People, cattle, and food were all safely protected. That is thanks to the family building a flood barrier right in the house.” Ms. Lien then introduced her family’s flood barrier. It is a tall hut with stairs up and down for cattle. Each hut is 10-15 square meters wide and is a place to store straw, rice, cattle, and poultry when the flood comes. The height of the hut is designed based on the historical flood peak in 1978 plus 1 meter.

Up to now, the whole Hung Nhan commune has nearly 500/942 households building flood-proof islets like Ms. Lien. The construction of these flood-proof islets is all spontaneous by the people and there is no support from the government or social organizations. According to Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, to build a flood-proof islet costs about 25-40 million VND, depending on the area. However, because many families are in difficult circumstances, they do not have the conditions to build. For these households, when the flood comes, they have to temporarily send their buffaloes and cows to their neighbors' houses or cross the flood to the dike to take refuge. Each family here also buys a small boat to move in the flood. Starting from August, people prepare enough food, medicine, and drinking water to cope with sudden floods. Families that build houses later, each house tries to raise the floor of the house about 1 meter higher than the road surface.

In order to avoid crop damage, people are trying to speed up the spring rice harvest. So far, the whole commune has finished harvesting and is proceeding with the summer-autumn crop. “Floods usually come around after the full moon of August (August 15th of the lunar calendar), so we are instructing people to sow early so that they can finish the summer-autumn crop before the flood comes,” Mr. Hoan shared.

As for the people of the southern 9 communes of the districtMaleDan, each year usually has to endure 2-3 floods. In addition to building high floors and buying boats to move, many houses also build wooden attics, normally used to store rice, corn, and potatoes, and when floods come, it is a shelter for the whole family. Many families with conditions also build a small hut on the second floor. This hut can be built or made of wood. This is where they can stay when the water rises.

Mr. Le Van Hong, Nam Cuong commune (MaleDan) pointed to the old house with a small attic on top: "This house was built with a small hut like this, mainly to avoid floods. Normally, people live downstairs, and only go upstairs during flood season. Now, to build a house like this, it costs 70-80 million VND. Thanks to this hut, our family has not suffered any damage after the floods in the past few years."

Besides, the people of Nam Phuc commune (MaleThe group has small experiences that have been successfully applied. When building a house, people need to have an emergency exit at the top and a fly-hole so that when needed, they can escape or get food easily. Bananas should be planted in the house or bamboo should be prepared so that when needed, they can be built into rafts to create a place for pigs, chickens, ducks to take shelter when the water rises. Wooden objects such as beds, cabinets, etc. should be placed outside the house and tied together to avoid waves from hitting the walls, causing the walls to collapse and the house to collapse. In addition, families should fully prepare clean water, food and necessary items.

Although the flood rose high and fast, causing widespread flooding, most of the people's property in their homes was protected. The experience of living with floods over many years has given peopleMaleThe herd proactively prepared the best conditions to be able to live with long-term floods. During the flood season, people here chose the highest land, set up tents, prepared food and brought cattle to avoid the flood. Cattle raising households divided shifts to herd cattle to reduce work and travel by boat through deep areas that were dangerous to life.

People’s initiative is always a prerequisite in flood and storm prevention work today. However, due to economic difficulties and the characteristics of each locality, many families do not have the conditions to build sandbanks, buy small boats or build attics in their houses. Therefore, people are in dire need of timely support from authorities at all levels and social organizations to feel secure when “living with floods”.

Pham Bang