Family unable to lay mother to rest as floods refuse to recede

On Wednesday afternoon Binh's home was still under nearly two meters of water.

His 74-year-old mother had passed away on Monday after a long illness.

When family and neighbors came to offer condolences, Binh, wearing a white mourning headband, greeted them from the roof but could not invite them inside.

"I have asked everyone to wait for the waters to retreat, as our belongings are floating around, and boats can easily capsize," he said.

He and his six siblings had to place his mother's coffin in the attic to protect it from the waters.

"We're hoping the water will recede soon so we can bury our mother at the cemetery 16 km away."

Binh's sisters Truong Thi Hap, 49, and Truong Thi Hai, 51, grieve by their mother’s coffin.

Hap says: “Our father passed away in the historic 2020 floods. Now it is my mother in similar circumstances. They worked hard all their life to raise us, and now even their final moments are marked by hardship.”

The flooding since Sunday night has damaged nearly everything in Binh's home.

Storm Trami made landfall in central Vietnam on Sunday morning, triggering heavy rains across the region.

The water reached the roof, and the family had to dry the incense holders on their ancestors' altar on the roof whenever the rain stopped.

Trash and debris surround the home; the only access is through the roof, where some tiles have been removed to create a way.

Bình occasionally stares out at the Kien Giang River. "The water is slowly retreating. I don’t know when it will be low enough for us to bury our mother."

Many homes nearby are also engulfed in floodwaters from a swollen Kien Giang River.

Across Quang Binh, 32,000 households have been flooded, including nearly 20,000 in Le Thuy District and 12,000 in Quang Ninh District.

More than 9,000 households have been evacuated.

Authorities have advised people to remain indoors.

This is Quang Binh's second major flood in four years. In October 2020 floods submerged Quang Ninh and Le Thuy districts under 2-4 meters of water for more than 10 days, causing 25 deaths and economic losses of VND3.5 trillion (US$138 million).