On the afternoon of September 12, after receiving the notice that the road to the center of Minh Quan commune (Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province) was cleared, representatives of Tuoi Tre newspaper and Yen Bai Provincial Youth Union promptly arrived to encourage and share with teachers and students in the flooded area.

Minh Quan Primary and Secondary School is located on the central route. After the floodwaters receded, teachers put aside their family matters, joined hands to clean up and repair the damage after the flood to prepare facilities to welcome students back to school.

Teacher Pham Thi Hien - principal of Minh Quan Primary and Secondary School - and other teachers are still worried, because up to now they have not been able to contact all the parents to ask about the situation.

Ms. Hien said that during the historic flood, fortunately the school’s facilities were not damaged. However, many families of students are currently affected by the flood, with all their property damaged. In particular, the roads between villages are still cut off, and students cannot go to school because the water has not receded completely.

"The most difficult thing is that up to now, we have not been able to contact all the families with children at school because there are many places without electricity, phone signal, and Internet. Initially, each class can only contact 10-20 parents," Ms. Hien shared, her face still full of worry.

Since the opening ceremony, students of Minh Quan Primary and Secondary School have not returned to school due to storms and rain. Therefore, they have not brought their books and school supplies to class, and it is possible that all of their books and school supplies have been damaged or swept away by floodwaters. Some parents have reported that their children have lost all their clothes and books.

To share the difficulties with students of Minh Quan Primary and Secondary School, Tuoi Tre Newspaper in collaboration with Yen Bai Provincial Youth Union presented 100 gifts including backpacks, notebooks, pens and school supplies to children in flood-affected areas entering the new school year.

"When I received information that sponsors and organizations had gifts for the school's children, I felt very warm. No matter how big or small the gift is, we want to receive it to give to the students.

However, until now, the children have not been able to go to school due to the flood. After the children return to school, we will hand them over, ensuring that the right recipients and the right type of support are provided, and the school will have a public list of sponsoring organizations and individuals to send to the authorities," said Ms. Hien.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Dang Van Quang - Vice Chairman of Minh Quan Commune People's Committee - said that after the second day of storm No. 3, the Red River water rose, completely isolating Minh Quan Commune. More than 2,000 households were affected, fortunately there were no human casualties, but all crops and aquaculture were damaged.

In particular, in the commune there is a weak dike section, so during the flood season, the forces and youths have to be on duty to reinforce the dike, and cannot return home in time to evacuate their assets, so only women, the elderly and children are left at home.

Mr. Quang added that currently, the main roads are open, but 4 villages Linh Duc, Tien Phong, Duc Quan, Lien Hiep are still cut off from the main roads. The remaining 2 villages are 50% cut off. To reach the people and students, they have to use boats to move, some places are still 4-5m deep in water.

Also on the afternoon of September 12, the vice chairman of the People's Committee of Minh Quan commune, along with the militia force, rowed a boat to take Tuoi Tre newspaper reporters and representatives of Yen Bai Provincial Youth Union into the isolated area to share and give emergency relief gifts to local people.