On the morning of June 26, Mr. Do Chi Doan (56 years old, Chu Va 12 village, Son Binh commune, Tam Duong and Lai Chau districts) and his family members went to clean the stone, scouring mud for the remaining valuable items after the flood swept through this residential cluster two days ago.
Mr. Doan said that at 8:00 on June 24, he saw that the spring water was stronger and more opaque than usual, so he went back to find the cause. At the same time, he took the net to block the water flow to keep more than 10 sturgeon tanks safe.
Nhiều điểm sạt lở ở Lai Châu chưa được khắc phục. Ảnh: Ngọc Thành.
As he turned around, Mr. Doan heard a rumbling sound like an earthquake. “I have not yet understood what the floodwaters have stormed into the house, collapsing the fish tank, swept away all the furniture. Fortunately, everyone in the family quickly ran up the nearby hill to escape” Mr. Doan said.
Also in Chu Va 12 village, Mrs. Vu Thi Mai Phuong (55 years old) was startled when she heard the sound of spring water flowing early in the morning. Thinking of a flood of pipes, Ms. Phuong and her husband, Mr. Duong Ngoc Hung (58) hastily took iron columns and nets to prevent the flow of water into more than 30 sturgeon tanks.
About 8 o’clock, Mrs. Phuong saw the muddy dirt mud swirling along the stream. The neighbors were screaming and shouting, the people who had left the motorbikes fled and called for help. For a moment, Mrs. Phuong saw every large piece of rock on the mountain opposite the house collapsed along the water. She planned to go back to the house to get a motorbike but could not keep up because the flood came and quickly eroded “like a tsunami on a television”.
Phó thủ tướng Trịnh Đình Dũng thăm hỏi, động viên bà Vũ Thị Mai Phương sáng 26/6. Ảnh: Xuân Tuyến.
Quickly jumping on the high cliff next to the house, Mrs. Phuong escaped the stream of flood, but the husband did not see it after the collapse of the rock. By the morning of June 26, Mr. Duong Ngoc Hung – Mrs. Phuong’s husband – was still missing. Local authorities mobilize forces to wade along streams and gateways to find victims but have not yet seen. “It is likely that the victim’s body was swept away a few dozen kilometers away because the water flow was very strong”; said a search officer.
Sturgeon farmers became dust poor
Sitting collapsed in a corner of the neighbor’s house, Mrs. Phuong’s eyes were red when the husband was still missing, the family’s fish farm is now only a bare land. The female home owners said, the family built sturgeon farm in 2013 with an initial capital of nearly 10 billion. After many years, she bought more land to expand fish farming area with 12,000 m2, more than 30 fish tanks with an annual output of nearly 80 tons.
Sturgeon must be raised in clean water so her family chooses along the highway 4D, where there is a fast flowing stream for farms. “The assets we borrowed and worked hard over the years have been washed away in just 10 minutes”; Phuong said.
Nhiều con cá tầm bị lũ cuốn trôi. Ảnh: Ngọc Thành.
In the same situation, more than 10 tanks of concrete sturgeon worth nearly 3 billion VND of Mr. Doan’s family were also swept away by the flood. The whole farm more than 3,000 m2 is now littered with mud and garbage.
Leaders of Tam Duong district (Lai Chau) said that four cold water fish farms in the district have been swept away by the flood waters, it is estimated that about 130 tons of fish meat and nearly 400,000 fish are damaged with the amount of up to dozens of billion VND.
Flooding in the past days in Lai Chau has caused 12 deaths, 11 missing people and 8 wounded people;244 houses were swept away by floods, 68 were damaged; over 800,000 m3 of land and rock eroding along national highways, provincial roads … At National Highway 4D connecting Sa Pa district (Lao Cai) and Tam Duong district (Lai Chau) began to circulate vehicles after two days of flooding.
