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Central Vietnam province struggles to clear mud left by flash floods

By Hai Binh   August 18, 2018 | 08:13 pm PT
Roads, schools and other public spaces in Muong Xen Town, Nghe An Province are clogged with thick mud.
On Saturday, although the floodwaters started receding, many roads leading to Muong Xen, a mountainous town in Kỵ Son District near the Laos border, are still submerged in muddy waters and sludge.

On Saturday, although the floodwaters triggered by storm Bebinca started receding, many roads leading to Muong Xen, a mountainous town in Ky Son District near the Laos border in Nghe An Province, were still submerged in muddy waters and sludge.
A primary school in the town, which is just 10 meters from Nam Non River, was left behind a handful of mud, sludge and garbage after the floods.

Soldiers clear sludge from a primary school in the town, just 10 meters away from a river.
Soldiers and civilian volunteers worked together with local residents to rake the mud inside the schoolyard so that students can get back to classes soon.

Soldiers and civilian volunteers work with local residents to remove mud from inside the schoolyard so that students can get back to classes soon. Vietnamese new school year will technically start next week.
A bulldozer was used to remove mud from the schoolyard and facilitate the clean-up operation.

A bulldozer is deployed to remove mud left by the flash floods.
Tables, chairs and school equipment were covered in sludge and people stacked them outside to be cleaned and then left in thế sun to dry.

Tables and chairs covered in sludge are stacked, to be cleaned later. 
A schoolroom containing documents and records was flooded by two meters and its no easy task for volunteers to clear away the mess of mud on the ground.

Flood waters rose two meters high in this room and cleaning it up is not going to be easy.
Luckily, piles of books were moved to the second floor before the floods hit the school.Local authorities said they have dispatched around 1,000 police officers, army recruits and volunteers to flood-prone areas to help local residents overcome the aftermath of the floods.

Text books were moved to the second floor of the primary school before it was flooded. Local authorities said they have dispatched around 1,000 police officers, army recruits and volunteers to flood-prone areas to help local residents overcome the aftermath of the floods.
Many public places in the town, including a post office are still flooded in the mud.

Outside the town's post office.

Typhoon Bebinca turned into a tropical depression in Thanh Hoa Province as it made landfall on Friday morning, but it still brought heavy downpours and gusty winds lasting many hours starting Thursday.

As of Saturday night, flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains had killed at least 8 people and left two others missing in Vietnam's north central and northern highlands regions, according to the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Nghe An was the worst hit province, with at least five people dead. Neighboring Thanh Hoa has lost one person, while two people have died in Son La.

Many districts in Nghe An have suffered heavy rainfall of between 180 to 250 millimeters since Thursday night, leaving many mountainous villages submerged under as much as three meters of water.

Four dead, three missing as flash floods ravage north, central Vietnam
 
 

Central Vietnam province struggles to clear mud left by flash floods

Vietnam was struck by a record-breaking number of 16 tropical storms in 2017 that left 389 people dead or missing and injured 668 others, mostly in northern and central regions. Damrey, one of the most destructive storms last year, hit the country in November and killed at least 106 people.

The General Statistics Office estimated damage at around VND60 trillion ($2.64 billion), 1.5 times the previous year’s figure.

 
 
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