On July 19, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment (MARD) Nguyen Hoang Hiep and a working delegation came to inspect the work of overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, visit and encourage people and forces on duty in Muong Than commune, Lai Chau province.
At the destinations, the delegation encouraged forces participating in search and rescue, overcoming the consequences of floods, and at the same time presented gifts to support families affected by natural disasters.
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 mobilized more than 800 officers and soldiers of the police, army, local shock forces and people to participate in search and rescue, and overcome the consequences.
However, rescue work faced many difficulties due to continued adverse weather.
For many days, the mountain peak area behind Noong Thang, Ban Chit and Team 11 villages has continuously had heavy rain. Soil and rocks have soaked in water, while the forecast for prolonged rain continues, causing the risk of landslides and flash floods to continue to be high.
According to local authorities, on July 18, after discovering many cracks on the mountainside and assessing the risk of landslides, all 219 households with 1,256 people in Noong Thang village were urgently relocated to a safe place.
The flash flood caused heavy damage to people and property. The whole commune had 13 houses swept away and completely damaged; many other houses were heavily damaged.
There are 80 households with 385 people in Noong Thang, Nam Ngua, Na Phai, Na Xa, Nam Sang, Sam Sau, Sap Ngua and Ban Chit villages who have to evacuate and stay as guests due to losing their homes.
Natural disasters also caused more than 20 hectares of rice to be buried and swept away. Muong Than field - one of the key rice production areas of the Northwest region - suffered heavy damage. Preliminary damage to housing, production and transportation infrastructure is estimated at about 120 billion VND.
Traffic infrastructure in the area was also seriously affected when a section of National Highway 32 through Chit village was eroded by soil and rocks and floods, causing division. Functional forces have mobilized machinery and vehicles to focus on overcoming and clearing soil and rocks to soon open the route.
In the context that the risk of landslides is still present due to prolonged heavy rain, local authorities continue to review high-risk areas and organize the relocation of people to safe places.
At the same time, focus on searching for missing people and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, and soon stabilizing the lives of people in flood-affected areas.
