On July 19, according to information from the Lai Chau Provincial Civil Defense Area Steering Committee, the flash flood that occurred on the morning of July 17 in Muong Than commune killed 4 people, injured 7 people and 4 people are still missing.
Immediately after the natural disaster occurred, Lai Chau province urgently mobilized more than 800 officers and soldiers from the police and military forces, along with local shock forces and people to make efforts to deploy search and rescue work and overcome the consequences.
However, rescue work is facing major challenges due to unfavorable weather.
On the top of the mountain range behind Noong Thang, Ban Chit, Team 11 villages, there have been continuous heavy rains for many days.
The huge amount of soil and rock here has been "soaked" in water, while it is forecast that rain will continue in the next few days, causing the risk of subsequent landslides and flash floods to always be at an alarming level.
The flash flood that passed has left extremely harsh consequences for people's lives.
The whole commune has 13 houses of people flattened, completely damaged and many other houses heavily damaged that cannot be fully counted.
The natural disaster left 80 households with 385 people in the villages of Noong Thang, Nam Ngua, Na Phai, Na Xa, Nam Sang, Sam Sau, Sat Ngua, Ban Chit, Muong Than commune homeless, and now they have to stay homeless.
Not only that, more than 20 hectares of rice were also swept away and completely buried by floods. Muong Than field, which is famous as one of the four largest "rice granaries" in the Northwest region, is now swallowed up by mud and floods.
Preliminary total damage to housing, crops and transport infrastructure is estimated at about 120 billion VND.
Besides casualties and property damage, local transport infrastructure is also seriously paralyzed.
A large amount of soil and rocks and floodwaters swept away a section of National Highway 32 running through the area of Chit village, Muong Than commune, causing complete division.
To ensure traffic flow, functional forces have mobilized a series of specialized machinery and manpower to focus on clearing soil and rocks, determined to clear the route as soon as possible.
Faced with the risk of landslides still waiting to collapse, local authorities and functional forces are having to strain themselves to both overcome the consequences and urgently review and thoroughly relocate households located in dangerous areas to safe places.
