Storm No. 9 Molave (2020) made landfall in Quang Ngai province as a level 3 hurricane with wind speeds of up to 120km/h. One day before Storm No. 9 Molave hit, I was assigned by the editorial office to travel from Da Nang to Quang Ngai to catch the storm.
At the Hanoi bridgehead, the editorial office immediately switched to combat mode. The direction was quickly given by the head of the newspaper with the request to set up a team of staff including leaders and reporters. This coordination was carried out via social networks to interact 24/7 before, during and after the storm.
With the mindset of rushing to the hot spot to report the urgent atmosphere of prevention and evacuation of houses. But when we arrived at Binh Dong commune - a coastal fishing village in Binh Son district, Quang Ngai, where the storm passed through, things did not go as we had originally planned.
The story is that before that, the Hoa Dong commune authorities had determined that most of the poor people's houses along the beach were makeshift, so instead of reinforcing their houses, they decided to take 4,000 people from Binh Dong commune to take shelter at the Hoa Phat Dung Quat dormitory to avoid the storm.
The storm was approaching the shore. The loudspeaker system and the militia spread out throughout the fishing village to urgently announce shelters for everyone to hear. It was thought that with thousands of people like that, the government would take a long time to mobilize the people. But no, the entire fishing village immediately announced to each other and got on the bus according to the instructions of the authorities.
The developments at the eye of the storm change very quickly by the hour. Completely different from the original plan of the editorial office that had been scripted in advance. However, thanks to the current events on the job, we have distilled them into attractive slices and promptly transmitted them on the Lao Dong online page.
The next morning, the storm officially made landfall with hurricane-level destruction. In the shelter, everyone could clearly hear the howling wind. Outside the fishing village, trees were falling, corrugated iron was flying everywhere, but there were absolutely no casualties thanks to the careful preparation of the people and the locality beforehand.
Racing against the fastest working time in the eye of the storm while ensuring personal safety is a big challenge for young reporters. Not to mention that around us are reporters from other newspapers who are also enthusiastically working. However, in the eye of the storm, the team of journalists at Lao Dong still has its own style through the articles sent to the editorial office.
During our work in Quang Ngai that year, the only way for us to connect with the editorial office was through social media platforms. Thanks to the smooth coordination, from the center of the storm, the reporters' materials were post-processed by the editorial office's secretaries and turned into articles in a truthful manner, leaving an impression on readers.
Another thing to be proud of is that the images we took during Storm No. 9 Molave were later used by the editorial office as learning materials and lessons learned later.
After working during the natural disaster that year, we realized that being a journalist does not mean just having the responsibility to report news and articles. More than anyone else, journalists are the connecting thread of “millions of arms reaching out to our compatriots in the storm and flood”.
For the people and workers in the Central region every rainy and stormy season, the Golden Heart Social Assistance Fund becomes an all too familiar spiritual brand.
Through this charity fund, millions of Vietnamese organizations and individuals at home and abroad have donated money to families affected by natural disasters; especially workers affected by floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
And to ensure that spiritual brand always reaches the right person at the right time, we cannot fail to mention the articles that move the emotions of readers, conveyed by the team of reporters and editors of Lao Dong Newspaper.
(Posted on the special edition of Lao Dong Xuan At Ty)
