For nearly a month, people in My Phuoc commune (Can Tho city) have had to live in a state of prolonged flooding due to the impact of heavy rain, high tides and low-lying terrain.
Mr. Vo Van Thuong (residing in Phuoc An A hamlet) said that the water started to rise and flood into his house at the end of September and has not yet receded. The prolonged floodwaters disrupted the family's daily life. Furniture must be raised, electrical equipment must be turned off to ensure safety. At home, you always have to wear thorn sandals to avoid slipping and falling.
"We have to run pumps 24/7. Just stop for about 1 hour before the water overflows again. The house has elderly people and children, and I can walk smoothly, I am very worried about the dangers and diseases," he said.
In Phuoc An A hamlet, the family of Ms. Huynh Thi My Quynh also fell into a similar situation.
"Every day, we spend about 100,000 VND on oil to pump water. If you don't pump, it will be flooded immediately. The kitchen is also flooded, so you have to raise it high to cook. I was so tired that I didn't know how long it would last," she sighed.
My Phuoc commune is a low-lying area in My Tu district, the old Soc Trang province (now Can Tho city). Every year, from around the 6th to the 10th lunar month, the water level often rises, many low-lying areas are flooded. However, according to local people, there has never been a year when the flooding situation was as severe as this year.
On days of heavy rain, combined with high tides, district road 19 leading to the center of My Phuoc commune, although it has been built high, is still flooded in many sections up to half a wheel. On both sides of the road, water overflowed into houses until knee-deep, and in many places the road surface was no longer seen. People have to use boats and canoes to travel. To limit the overflow, many households had to dig up soil and leave bags and temporarily build embankments in front of their houses.
Not only has their daily lives been disrupted, but people's production and business have also been seriously affected.
In Phuoc An A hamlet, My Phuoc commune (Can Tho city), more than 18,000m2 of watermelon of Mr. Huynh Van Ut's family had just 10 days left to harvest when water overflowed due to broken embankments, causing a loss of nearly 60 million VND. Mr. Ut said that the fields had previously been drained to grow melons, while the river water rose more than 1m above the field surface, making the embankment unable to withstand it. "The water overflowed too quickly, unable to stop it, the entire melon area was damaged," he shared.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Giang Nam - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of My Phuoc Commune, Can Tho City - said that the high tide situation this year has increased significantly compared to previous years. The whole commune has 13/13 hamlets affected. Many rural traffic routes were deeply flooded, and houses in low-lying areas were flooded. 2 primary schools were also affected, having to give students a week off to ensure safety.
Some areas of Autumn-Winter rice were flooded because the fields were in the middle of empty fields without embankments, although farmers continuously pumped them, the water still did not recede. Many aquaculture areas were also affected when rising water caused fish in ditches and ponds to swim out.
Mr. Giang said that the locality has organized a delegation to visit and give gifts of necessities to support policy families, meritorious families and poor households as well as affected production households.
Regarding schools, the locality is calculating to raise the foundation after the water recedes to ensure teaching and learning. For households in low-lying areas, the government mobilizes to reinforce embankments and prevent overflow, while paying attention to electrical safety and disease prevention.
