On the morning of October 8, the Ministry of National Defense dispatched 3 helicopters carrying many tons of essential goods to provide relief to people in isolated flooded areas in Lang Son and Cao Bang.
The two helicopters Mi-171 and Mi-17 of the Air Defense - Air Force took off from Gia Lam airport, Hanoi (Air Force Brigade 918), carrying 4 tons of goods and emergency relief supplies for people in flooded areas isolated in Van Nham and Yen Binh, Lang Son province.
Major General Vu Hong Son, Commander of the Air Defense - Air Force, was directly present to direct the relief mission.
On the same morning, the working group led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, along with 500kg of relief goods for people in Cao Bang province, also took off at Gia Lam airport, on a helicopter of the 18th Corps.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Ma Van Dat - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Binh Commune, Lang Son Province said that a helicopter had just dropped about 2 tons of relief goods to isolated areas in the commune.
According to Mr. Dat, prolonged heavy rain caused by the circulation of storm No. 11 caused water from upstream to flow in quickly and strongly, hundreds of households in Yen Binh commune were isolated and completely out of contact for many hours.
"As of dawn this morning, relief work was still very difficult due to rising water and strong currents.
It was not until the morning of October 8, when the water began to recede, that rescue boats of the authorities and people could access and supply necessities to affected households, Mr. Dat informed.
In Van Nham commune, another heavily flooded area, Mr. Nguyen Trong Hung - Secretary of the Commune Party Committee said that at around 10:30 a.m. the same day, the helicopter also released relief goods to people in isolated areas.
According to Mr. Hung, nearly 2,000 households in the commune were isolated and lost contact, many villages were flooded 1-2 m deep.
By noon on October 8, the water began to recede slowly, but it is expected to take at least two more days for the flood to recede.
From dawn on October 7, the circulation of storm No. 11 (storm Matmo) caused prolonged heavy rain, causing many mountainous areas of Lang Son province to be submerged in water.
Within 24 hours, the rainfall measured at the stations was up to 200-300 mm, in some places exceeding 350 mm, causing the water level of the Trung and Bac Giang rivers to rise 2 to 5 m above the level 3 alarm.
Yen Binh, Van Nham, That Khe and Trang Dinh communes became the focus of the most serious flooding in many years.
The whole province has more than 2,000 households affected, many places are flooded from 30 cm to 2 m deep, traffic is completely cut off, rescue work faces many difficulties.
According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Lang Son province, by 5:00 p.m. on October 7, the authorities had mobilized 455 soldiers, 1,150 militia, 750 police, along with 8 ST450 boats, 20 cars, and 15 excavators to rescue people in deeply flooded areas.
Nearly 800 people have been evacuated to schools, cultural houses and the headquarters of the People's Committee of the commune for safe shelter.
Many inter-village roads were eroded with a total volume of more than 10,000 m3 of rock and soil, causing serious traffic congestion.
In Trang Dinh district, Bac Khe 1 hydropower dam (Tan Tien commune) broke a large concrete piece in the water gate area, causing the central control room to collapse completely.
