Humanity in the flood

(Baonghean.vn) - Together with the people to fight against the flood, the armed forces including the army, police, and militia mobilized hundreds of officers, soldiers and all means to support people in the flooded areas.

>>Help people in flood-affected areas stabilize their lives soon

The most devastating flood in over 40 years has left behind heavy losses in both human lives and property. The water has receded, but the damage has not yet been fully quantified, and people are gradually stabilizing their lives… There, difficulties still pile up but the love between the army and the people is still strong.

The floodwaters had receded since the morning of October 2, Mr. and Mrs. Nguyen Van Minh, 75 years old, in block 11, Mai Hung ward (Hoang Mai town) hesitantly returned to their house. Hesitant because, just last night (October 1), the floodwaters rose rapidly, if it had been about 20 minutes later, the two old people would have been swept away. Mr. Minh had just had stomach surgery, the wound had not healed yet, and his wife was weak, and was wondering how to handle the situation when the armed forces' boat arrived to assist in the evacuation. "At that moment, they felt like crying...",

Lieutenant Colonel Le Xuan Quynh - Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff of Hoang Mai Town Military Command said so. Ms. Ngo Thi Na in Block 7 (Mai Hung - Hoang Mai Town) was still in shock when on the night of October 1, floodwaters flooded 2/4 of her house, her husband died early, and she and her four children were rescued by the core militia force of the ward. Ms. Na emotionally confided: "Property and rice were submerged but the mother and children are safe, that's great, luckily thanks to the help of the militia..."

Armed forces directly searched and rescued the body of Mr. Nguyen Tai Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade and the car.

Many more families in Hoang Mai town were promptly rescued by armed forces during the flood. The town leader's report said that the functional forces, the government and the people had helped to safely evacuate 620 households. More than 10,000 other houses were flooded but the people had evacuated in time. To help Hoang Mai people avoid the flood, the provincial military command, the 414th Engineer Brigade, and the 215th Armored Corps mobilized 250 officers and soldiers along with 15 high-speed boats to the flooded area.

The work was carried out from the morning of September 30 until noon of October 2. Boats were mobilized, but many areas were flooded, alleys were small, trees were stuck, houses were difficult to enter, militia and self-defense forces were mobilized as pilots to evacuate people from dangerous areas. Hundreds of trips were carried out, the force could not count how many people had reached safety. Working continuously in the rain and wind, many comrades were soaked, hungry, tired but still tried to find roofs that were about to be flooded to help people avoid the flood.

At 10:30 p.m. on October 1, upon hearing that the Department of Industry and Trade's vehicle was in trouble on its way to rescue, the armed forces gathered to search. During that process, Captain Nguyen Don Than, the boat driver, and Captain Nguyen Dinh Le, the Operations Department of the Provincial Military Command, discovered and rescued the driver. Due to the strong floodwaters, the vehicle, along with Mr. Nguyen Tai Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, along with many instant noodles and drinks, were swept into the Hoang Mai River.

After searching all night, on the morning of October 2, the force discovered the car and organized a salvage operation. Without hesitation, two comrades, Lieutenant Ho Dinh Hung and Lieutenant Nguyen Van An, professional boat drivers, volunteered to jump into the whirlpool to fix the rope to pull the car up. The river water was murky and cold, after diving many times, the two comrades were able to hook the rope so the crane could lift the car up. Until the car of the Department of Industry and Trade was lifted out of the water, hundreds of witnesses were silent, there were many sobs of grief when they saw the body of Mr. Nguyen Tai Dung stuck in the car...

Armed forces evacuate people during flood night in Hoang Mai town (Photo: Nguyen Khoa)

In the afternoon, we went to the frontline rescue command post of the province and Hoang Mai town located in Mai Hung ward to learn more about the flood situation, and met the core militia and self-defense soldiers of the ward who had just returned from the base. Although they looked tired after 3 days of fighting with flood water, they did not complain at all. In the story, Mr. Dang Van Hung said: “Last night, half of our block was flooded, the whole town lost electricity, luckily my generator still had gas, I ran it all night to light up to help people feel less worried. It has been decades since our people have been flooded like this, it was a bit surprising, but after the flood, we can see the love of humanity. In the hamlet, many houses that were not flooded cooked 3-4 pots of rice at once to feed other households…”. While confiding, Mr. Hung and 5 comrades in the militia and self-defense platoon quickly ate a bowl of instant noodles and received the task of continuing to go to the blocks and hamlets to grasp the situation, ready to help people stabilize their lives.

Traffic police force directs and directs traffic on Route 1A reasonably and safely.

In the past few days, together with the provincial leaders and departments, the provincial armed forces from the command level to the squads have taken turns staying in the area to organize rescue and relief work. Having been present continuously in Hoang Mai town for the past few days to direct the forces, Colonel Ha Tan Tien - Deputy Commander - Chief of Staff of the Provincial Military Command seemed to have lost weight due to lack of sleep. Colonel Lu Van Tuong - Deputy Director of the Provincial Police Department said: "In recent days, the police force of the whole province has mobilized over 300 comrades to work day and night. We assigned many groups of officers to block and guide traffic starting from the North of Ben Thuy Bridge to the end of the province bordering Thanh Hoa. Therefore, vehicles traveling on National Highway 1A were guided to go around to Ho Chi Minh Road, avoiding floods in Hoang Mai, to avoid unsafe situations. At the same time, the force was evenly distributed throughout the town and some areas of Quynh Luu district to help people evacuate. The coordination between the forces during this period was quite methodical, meeting the requirements of the task...".

The floodwaters have passed, 2 people have died, many properties, rice, crops of the people have gone down the river to the sea. Difficulties piled up after the water receded, but in all 10 wards and communes of Hoang Mai town, people have returned home to overcome the consequences together with the encouragement that "as long as there are people, there will be property". In the villages, relief teams of the province, organizations, unions and businesses are transporting instant noodles, drinking water and other necessities to the people. The human affection during and after the flood is therefore even warmer.

Article and photos: Nguyen Son