The world's best tourist village - Tan Hoa commune (Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province) has entered the flood season, and the people here are no longer worried like in previous years. Floods have gradually become familiar to people in the tourist village.
Tan Hoa Commune is likened to a giant water bag due to its low-lying terrain, surrounded by high mountains. All water sources are concentrated here, but the only exit is a narrow mountain cave.
In late September, due to the impact of storm No. 4, heavy rains from upstream poured down, more than 400 "flood center" houses in Tan Hoa commune were submerged in water. Many houses were flooded nearly 2 meters deep.
Witnessing the annual floods, Ms. Dinh Thi Thu (Tan Hoa commune) shared that in the past, every rainy season, people in the commune moved to high places near the mountains, where danger always lurked.
But over the past 10 years, almost every family has a flood-proof floating house on site. People store enough food in the floating house for a week.
For livestock, when there is a forecast of rain or flood, people in the commune will take them to the high mountains, store vegetables, and row boats to feed them every day.
“We are used to it and are no longer afraid of floods. We are even excited because when the water recedes, a large amount of alluvium will be left behind, making the land more fertile and making farming easier. Many families with the means have even built spacious floating houses, which can be used both daily and during floods,” said Ms. Thu.
These floating houses are built to float, can be raised according to the water level, the floating houses are fixed to 5-7m high positioning poles to prevent the house from drifting away. Each family also buys a boat and buoy to move actively.
Since 2011, the floating house model has begun to appear in the commune. Realizing its effectiveness, households have proactively built houses, in addition, many companies, individuals, businesses, and fronts have supported people in building. This is a type of floating house that can be raised according to the water level, and the house is firmly fixed to a column to prevent it from drifting.
The “water level” rose for only 2 days and then receded, everything returned to normal. People took advantage of the receding water level to clean up, when the water level finally receded, people returned to their normal lives and continued to welcome tourists.
Tan Hoa Commune is famous for the Tu Lan cave system. This place has been chosen as the setting for many famous domestic and international films such as: The Immortal; The Legend of Quan Tien or “Kong - Skull Island” by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
The commune has now become a community tourism village, operated by the locals with homestay models and restaurants serving typical dishes.
Mr. Truong Thanh Duan - Chairman of Tan Hoa Commune People's Committee said that up to now, the locality has 620/716 households prepared with floating houses. Thanks to this house, people can easily adapt to floods. Some households have improved the floating houses to make them larger, with enough bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens.
“At the same time, building a community tourism village here helps people improve their lives. It is ready to welcome guests regardless of the weather of the year,” said Mr. Duan.
