On the morning of August 30, Mr. Vo Duc Nhuan (Phu Son village, Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province) had to cut off the ripe dragon fruits that were rotten inside after a three-day-long flood. All 700 dragon fruit trees with about 10 tons of ripe fruits from his off-season crop were submerged in water.
Cutting down hundreds of dragon fruit trees
Mr. Nhuan shared that with the current selling price of over 20,000 VND/kg, the flood on August 27 caused his family a loss of more than 200 million VND. “The water rose very quickly and took a long time to recede. Not only were the ripe fruits submerged for hours, forcing us to cut them down, but the roots of the trees were also damaged, and the leaves burned, making it almost impossible to fully recover,” Mr. Nhuan lamented.
Ripe dragon fruits in Mr. Vo Duc Nhuan’s garden (Phu Son village, Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province) had to be cut down due to flooding
Not far from Mr. Nhuan’s dragon fruit garden, Le Thi Hanh was drying mattresses that had been soaked in water with the help of her relatives and neighbors. Ms. Hanh shared that the water rose at 4 am, so she was unable to react in time, and all the belongings in her house, from the washing machine and gas stove to the altar, were submerged. Her family had to temporarily take refuge in a neighbor’s house, which had a higher foundation.
Next to Ms. Hanh’s house lived Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, a stroke patient who lived with his elderly mother in a dilapidated house. When the flood came, he had to call for help from his neighbors, but their belongings were still soaked.
DT 719B road divides the flooded areas of Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan province
According to the People’s Committee of Ham My commune, the flood affected more than 300 houses in Phu Son and Phu Khanh villages. The authorities evacuated people and belongings from 50 flooded houses to ensure safety. In addition, more than 400 hectares of dragon fruit and other crops in these two villages were also submerged.
Accountability remains elusive
To determine the cause of the historic flood, Binh Thuan authorities organized several inspection teams to the site. Notably, the DT 719B road, which is nearing completion, is believed to be the cause of the flooding.
However, the Binh Thuan Provincial Traffic Construction Project Management Board, the investor’s representative of the DT 719B road project, affirmed that the construction followed the design. Specifically, the bridge’s underside, which serves as a water outlet for the Cat River, was expanded compared to the old flow. “The old culvert was only 1 meter wide; during construction, we widened it to 2 meters. The main stream that used to cross the road in the flooded area was only 10 meters wide, but now the bridge span has been tripled,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hien, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Provincial Traffic Construction Project Management Board, the investor of DT 719B road.
When asked about the smaller canals that were blocked by the DT 719B road, the investor’s representative argued that the small streams along the road had been diverted to drainage ditches to flow into the main culvert. However, “during normal rain, the water will drain completely, but during heavy rain, there may be localized flooding,” they added.
Regarding the suspicion that Du Du Lake, located upstream and releasing water to the flooded area, caused the flooding, on August 29, the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development stated that up to that point, the local lakes had not stored enough water to release.
However, on the morning of August 30, Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc, Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, informed that after inspecting the Binh Thuan Water Resources Exploitation and Construction Joint Stock Company, the department learned that before the flood, Du Du Lake was full but had not released water. The company also announced that the lake’s water level was higher than the spillway level, and they planned to open the deep spillway from 4 pm on August 27, with a discharge of 2-10 m3/second. Meanwhile, residents living on both sides of the river basin claimed that hours before the announcement of the water release, the water level had risen, and the flow had strengthened.
In the afternoon of August 30, the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with Ham Thuan Nam district, surveyed the flooded area in Ham My commune. They assessed and inspected the construction and design of DT 719B road and the water flows leading to the area.
Promptly determine the cause
Regarding the flooding of hundreds of hectares of dragon fruit in Ham Thuan Nam district, on August 29, the leaders of Binh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee inspected the flooded area on both sides of DT 719B road. The provincial leaders requested relevant departments, sectors, and units to promptly determine the cause of the flooding to avoid similar situations and quickly overcome the consequences.
On the morning of August 30, representatives of the People’s Committee of Ham My commune also visited the affected households to assess the damage for the support plan.
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