Due to heavy rain on the afternoon of October 8, by the early morning of October 9, water from rivers and canals in Muong Man and Ham Thanh communes, Ham Thuan Nam district rose, flooding dragon fruit gardens of local people.
Recorded on the morning of October 9, at the spillway area behind Muong Man market (locals call it Lo Ngoi culvert) in Dai Thanh village, Muong Man commune, the water rose so high that the road across the dam was not visible.
Many households on the other side of the flooded area have to walk around to the rice field road along the North-South railway if they want to get to Highway 718.
At the spillway, although the water is receding, many dragon fruit gardens only have the tops of the pillars visible. Many houses are also flooded, affecting daily life.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu Hong, a local resident, said that the water started rising at 10pm on October 8 and then flooded her house about 1m deep. Her family stayed up all night to watch for the rising water and left the house when the water rose.
Ms. Hong’s dragon fruit garden was flooded after being sprayed with pesticides and this batch of dragon fruit was definitely spoiled. On the morning of October 9, after the water gradually receded, she started cleaning the house and clearing the mud in the house due to the flood.
It was noted that dragon fruit pillars had green fruit after being lit. However, according to local people, many gardens had sprayed pesticides but when flooded, they were considered a total loss, not to mention that flooding rotted the roots of the plants, damaged the vines and washed away the fertilizer at the base, now they have to be fertilized again to produce the next crop.
About 3km away, the Suoi Thi bridge area in Dan Thuan village, Ham Thanh commune, Ham Thuan Nam was also flooded by water from the stream, flooding many dragon fruit gardens since the evening of October 8.
At noon on October 9, the water was still about 0.5m deep across Suoi Thi Bridge, so people riding motorbikes across the bridge had to be careful. To cross, people had to stand at the head of the bridge and turn the throttle hard to make the motorbike go faster through the flooded area. Many students riding electric bicycles watched the motorbikes pass before daring to follow.
Flooding after heavy rains has affected dragon fruit gardens, affecting production, income and inundating properties and houses of people in Dan Thuan village, Ham Thanh commune, extending to Dai Thanh village, Muong Man commune, Ham Thuan Nam district.
Local authorities are currently assessing the damage.
