Residents in the central provinces of the country struggle to rebuild their lives after being devastated by massive floods from typhoons and tropical storms in recent weeks.

After Storm Mirinae subsided, many areas in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh are still flooded. With support from the air force, local authorities have delivered dozens of tonnes of cooking including instant noodles and drinks for victims.

Drying rice under the sun is a job that always makes Cao Thi Nhi happy, the final step following months of labour in her paddy. But today, her work is torture for her because she’s drying the last sack of rice left in the aftermath of recent Tropical Storm Mirinae and the floods it left in its wake in Viet Nam’s central region.

The floods swept away everything belonging to Nhi’s family, except for a few coconut palms and the foundation of their house.

Sitting on the ground and holding her young son, Nhi said in tears that she found the sack of wet rice on the ground after the flood.

“The rice had sprouted and was covered in mud, but I

Water from Ha Thanh River has flooded many areas in Binh Dinh. Local residents have to hang on to a railway to cross the waters.

Nhi is one of 300 families suffering the same plight in the village of Tan Binh, in the central province of Phu Yen’s Dong Xuan District.

“My village is separated from other areas by the Ha Bang River,” Nhi said. “No one from the outside has been able to reach us until now. Many local families still have nothing to eat. Helicopters yesterday threw several boxes of instant noodles for us but it’s like salt poured into the sea.”

Ten days after the floods subsided, the area still appears devastated, with traces of hundreds of collapsed houses along the roadways. Many schools are still unable to reopen their doors because classrooms have been damaged and or remain buried in mud. Many bridges have been swept away, and the dead bodies of livestock and poultry float on

Health workers from Nghia Trung Commune Health Station in the central province of Quang Ngai are disinfecting outside wells in order to prevent pollution.

Nguyen Hung, one of the other people lucky to have escaped with their lives, said, in the past, it could rain for four or five days without floods. This time, it rained for only one day, but everything was swept away, said Hung, wondering aloud if the floods were due to years of deforestation in the area.

The centre of Song Cau Town is located off National Highway 1A. Residents there said that, when the storm came inland, they witnessed flood levels rising minute-by-minute, making it impossible to evacuate in time.

According to Tuy An District People’s Committee vice chairman Pham Thi Le, many were trapped and drowned in their homes before relief workers could arrive. In An Dinh commune, communal leaders divided into groups to visit local households, and they were shocked to discover Nguyen Van The and his wife dead in their home.

“There were 27 people in our commune who died, including three couples,” said Le.

Teachers of Nguyen Viet Xuan junior and senior secondary schools are drying books and training tools for students.

“Within an hour after the storm, water levels increased very quickly,” said Tung. “When my wife and I were gathering furniture to get our children above the floodwaters, a current of water suddenly swamped us, collapsing the house and sweeping all of us away.”

Nguyen Van Sau, from the provincial Committee of Nationalities, also said that dozens of graves were destroyed.

Statistics from the Phu Yen Flood and Storm Control Steering Committee showed that the flood had killed nearly 80 people, destroyed about 1,400 homes and damaged 36,000 others. More than 58,000 households with 234,000 people – equivalent to 37 per cent of the population – were reportedly

Many organisations, enterprises and donors have sent goods to victims in Tuy An District, Phu Yen Province.

At least 3,900ha of rice was lost and thousands of hectares of coffee, rubber, pepper, sugar cane and corn were also submerged. Total losses were estimated at nearly VND3 trillion (US$162.2 million).

The director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Van Lang, said the province had received aid worth VND6.1 billion ($330,000) from domestic and international organisations, and that the Government had given the province VND100 billion ($5.4 million) and 4,000 tonnes of rice to distribute to victims this week.

But, Lang said, together with rebuilding infrastructure, the greatest challenge facing Phu Yen now was how to return children to school, with many classrooms and much educational equipment lost to the flood.

Headmaster Nguyen Duc Trung of An Dinh Primary School in Tuy An District said that his school was yet to reopen, the school grounds flooded with mud, and the teachers struggling to clean up the mess.

At Xuan Son Bac Primary School in the mountain district of Dong Xuan, 11 out of 13 classrooms had collapsed. Principal Ta Ngoc Son said he expected classes to resume next week at the offices of the local People’s Committee and the district’s cultural house.

“All textbooks and books were swept away. We hope to receive donations from organisations to buy necessary books for students,” said Son.

In a visit to flooded areas, Phu Yen Party Secretary Dao Tan Loc called for support from donors and organisations to donate books and educational equipment for teachers and students, including projectors and printers.

In a visit to adjoining Khanh Hoa Province last week, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh also acknowledged the active efforts of the province in moving people to safer areas. The province relocated over 19,000 people in 5,300 households engaged in shrimp-breeding along the coast.

In Van Ninh District, local authorities prevented untold casualties by successfully persuading people to evacuate even though they were reluctant to abandon their shrimp cages.

Many shrimp breeders suffered a complete loss. Of Khanh Hoa’s total losses of VND380 billion ($20.5 million), over VND210 billion ($11.3 million) was in the district.

Manh agreed to urge banks to extend loan repayment terms for breeders.

Although victims have received donations from the Government, organisations and donors, many were now faced with immediate difficulties. A campaign to collect rice and clothing for flood victims has commenced in affected provinces, including Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Binh Dinh.

VNN/VNS