Nghe An border area strives to recover from flash floods, restore production, stabilize life

Join hands to stabilize life

Tri Le Commune, located in the border area of ​​Que Phong District (old), was one of the localities most severely affected by the flood in late May 2025, with 26 houses damaged, severely affected by flooding, subsidence or landslides. Nearly 1,000 livestock and poultry died or were swept away. About 31.13 hectares of fish ponds and 12 fish cages were severely damaged. Agriculture was devastated on a large scale, with more than 130 hectares of rice and nearly 31 hectares of vegetables damaged.

In addition, many essential infrastructure works were destroyed such as 7 irrigation dams, more than 760m of intra-field ditches, 7 temporary bridges were washed away, and inter-village roads were cut off at many points. The estimated damage was more than 6.06 billion VND.

Despite the great damage, the most admirable thing is the proactive spirit and solidarity of the people in the border area in restoring their lives. In Lam Hop village, Ha Van Lien is actively hiring excavators to dredge the thick layer of sand covering more than 3 sao of rice fields after the flood. He said: “If the fields are not cleaned in time, the harvest will be delayed. But hiring machines is very difficult because all the villages need them, there are many people but few machines. The cost is high, so several households have to pool money to hire them.”

Not far away, Mr. Ngan Van Son’s family was busy rebuilding the bank of their fish pond. The flood caused the water level in the pond to rise abnormally, overflowing and washing away about 50% of the fish that was about to be harvested, causing tens of millions of dong in damage. Mr. Son said: “After this flood, I decided to build a higher bank, add a protective net, and proactively prevent risks in the upcoming rainy season.”

Huu Khuong Commune, Tuong Duong District (old) also suffered heavy damage after the recent flood, when the locality had 3 houses completely swept away, 23 others damaged, soil and rocks buried residential areas, school systems and boarding houses. This is a locality that suffered huge production losses with dozens of hectares of rice, cassava, and crops destroyed. Many fish cages, ponds, buffaloes, cows, and poultry were swept away by the flood.

Mr. Lo Van Giap - Secretary of the Party Committee of Huu Khuong Commune shared: "Up to now, more than 1 month after the flood, the government and people have tried to clean up, level the soil and rocks to create paths and clear the flow. We have evacuated 11 households at high risk to safe places, some people have returned to live with relatives, some households have proactively built temporary houses in higher areas".

In the field of education, Huu Khuong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities was severely damaged. Fortunately, the flood occurred during the summer vacation, so there were no students there. However, the buildings were also damaged by soil and rocks that have not been repaired.

The school representative said that thanks to the help of teachers and parents, the boarding area has been basically cleaned up. However, many of the students’ personal belongings such as clothes, blankets, and books were flooded and muddy, making them unusable. The school is mobilizing organizations and individuals to support the students in preparing for the new school year.

Regarding agricultural production, although the Huu Khuong commune government has proactively hired excavators and graders to support the people, the recovery progress is still slow due to continued rain, muddy roads, and difficulty for machines to access damaged areas. This reality is greatly affecting the ability of local people to sow crops on time.

Hope to be resettled soon

Besides temporary restoration, what worries the people and authorities of the border communes the most is the risk of flooding again. With steep mountainous terrain, a dense network of streams and creeks, prolonged heavy rains always pose high risks. In that context, a long-term resettlement solution for households living in the risk area is more desirable than ever.

Mr. Lu Thanh Long - Vice Chairman of Tri Le Commune People's Committee frankly admitted: "Currently, the locality has just merged, the apparatus is in the process of completion, investment resources are interrupted, so it is not possible to completely repair damaged civil works such as water tanks, intra-field ditches, electric poles, etc. In the immediate future, the commune will organize a survey, make a list and propose to superiors to support people to resettle in safer places."

According to the reporter, many residential areas in Tri Le commune are located near streams, in low-lying areas or have weak geology, and have been affected many times by landslides and flash floods. Continuing to live in these areas is a constant threat to the safety of people's lives and property.

During the site inspection in early June 2025, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De directed departments, branches and localities to urgently study plans to straighten the flow in weak streams and creeks to avoid water flowing directly into residential areas. At the same time, it is necessary to quickly survey and select suitable locations to deploy stable and sustainable resettlement areas for households in high-risk areas.

Localities mobilized all machinery, human resources, and vehicles to urgently level soil and rocks, and temporarily clear routes to ensure traffic, supply goods, food, and clean water to households, prioritizing households that lost their homes and suffered significant property damage. Up to now, people's lives after the flood have basically stabilized again, however, their wish is still a stable resettlement site for long-term livelihoods.

Mr. Lo Van Giap - Secretary of the Party Committee of Huu Khuong Commune said: "We are waiting for departments and branches to survey the resettlement site. With the terrain here, if we continue to live in the old locations, the risk of being swept away by floods is very high. The commune has proactively promoted and mobilized people to temporarily reside in high areas, waiting for the official plan from the province."

Teacher Luong Bich Ngoc - Vice Principal of Huu Khuong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities shared: "If there is no plan to straighten the stream, build a stream embankment or move the boarding area of ​​the school to a safer location, teachers and students will always feel insecure. In the short term, teachers will temporarily stay in the cleared boarding area, students will be transferred to the new boarding area, but in the long term, a more solid plan is needed."

In addition, the flood-affected localities are also calling for urgent support from philanthropists and charitable organizations. Especially clothes, books, blankets for students before the new school year; seeds, livestock, agricultural materials for people to restore production after natural disasters.