Faced with prolonged heavy rain, people in the "flood center" of Vu Quang (Ha Tinh) have proactively raised their properties, reinforced their barns, prepared food for their livestock... to prevent floodwaters from rising.

The family of Mrs. Pham Thi Hoa in Huong Pho village (Duc Huong commune) moved their belongings to the cupboard to ensure safety.

Ms. Pham Thi Hoa in Huong Pho village (Duc Huong commune) said: "When hearing the news on the radio about prolonged heavy rain, my family proactively moved, raised furniture, and found ways to preserve property in the house. At the same time, the family also repaired boats to use when the flood water rose. In previous years, thanks to proactive response, the damage when each flood passed was insignificant, and the family quickly stabilized their lives."

According to Ms. Hoa, whenever there is prolonged heavy rain, the entire Huong Pho village - surrounded by the Ngan Sau River - is isolated, so it is never redundant to proactively move important belongings to the cupboard in advance. That is how we proactively live with the flood.

People in Huong Pho village (Duc Huong commune) keep cows at home to ensure safety during heavy rains.

Worried about the floodwaters rising overnight, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thao’s family (Huong Pho village, Duc Huong commune) prepared all kinds of essential necessities. In addition, her family also moved their herd of 5 cows from the farm to their home to ensure safety.

Ms. Thao said: "During this year's flood season, in addition to moving valuable assets to higher ground, we also carefully preserved food sources for livestock. Because we are located in a low-lying area, next to the Ngan Sau River, it only takes a few hours of continuous heavy rain for the floodwaters to rise. If we do not prepare well, the consequences will be unpredictable."

Mr. Pham Quoc Bao - Chairman of Duc Huong Commune People's Committee said: "Currently, the commune has detailed plans and solutions for organizing the use of forces and means, food, provisions... for each village. In particular, the locality has 3 villages: Huong Dong, Huong Dai and Huong Pho that are often isolated, with nearly 400 affected households, the commune has developed specific evacuation plans. At the same time, we proactively prepare essential necessities for use in case of floods at night."

People of Duc Bong commune proactively provide food for their livestock.

In Duc Bong commune, facing the complicated developments of the flood, local people have proactively protected their family property by collecting and moving all vehicles and belongings to high places to avoid damage. In addition, people also pay attention to taking care of their livestock during the rainy days.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (village 1, Duc Bong commune) expressed: "Although everything has been prepared, we still hope that God will bless us and the flood will pass quickly so that we can feel secure in our production and stabilize our lives."

Mr. Nguyen Huu Dien - Vice Chairman of Duc Bong Commune People's Committee informed: "The whole commune currently has 3 villages: 1, 2 and village 3 that are regularly flooded and isolated, with more than 300 households affected. Therefore, as soon as there was a forecast of prolonged heavy rain, the commune deployed detailed response measures to each household. Up to now, all flood response work in the area has been basically completed".

Proactive response to floods helps Vu Quang people minimize damage.

With many years of experience in flood prevention, people in Duc Bong commune as well as other downstream communes in Vu Quang area are no longer passive when the rainy season comes. Thanks to that, human and property damage caused by natural disasters in recent years in these localities has significantly decreased.

Mr. Phan Xuan Nam - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Chief of Office of the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control of Vu Quang district said: "Currently, all preparations for flood response have been basically completed by the district. Particularly for the "flood center" area including 6 communes: Duc Lien, Duc Huong, Duc Bong, Duc Giang, Duc Linh, An Phu (of which, the 2 most heavily flooded communes are Duc Bong and Duc Huong), the locality has deployed forces to inspect and review residential areas along the river, low-lying areas, and areas at high risk of flooding to proactively organize the evacuation of people when situations arise.

In addition, to ensure absolute safety for people and property when heavy rains last for a long time, the locality has assigned people to be on duty and guide traffic in vulnerable areas, strictly prohibiting fishing in dangerous flood areas. In addition, the district has also carefully prepared logistics, forces, and means for flood prevention to be mobilized when necessary."

Van Chung