Challenging harsh weather, difficult terrains and natural disasters

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Viettel's staff supporting people in disaster areas

During October 10-12, torrential rains and floods due to an intensive low depression occurred in many communes of Da Bac district, causing huge losses to local people and infrastructure projects. A number of people were killed, injured or went missing, many families had to leave their homes for safer places; many houses, public buildings and infrastructural projects were destroyed or badly damaged; the local water supply and power systems were damaged, roads were submerged under water; and villages were gulfed and completely isolated. Most people in the district lacked food and clean water. The local authority had even to declare a state of emergency.

In this situation, the local Viettel telecommunication network still remained operational. The local Viettel cable network was connected and almost all base transceiver stations (BTS) were still working, allowing local officials to direct forces to fight natural disasters and people to phone their families and relatives. Furthermore, local officials and people with smart phones could connect to the internet through the local Viettel mobile 4G network to read latest weather forecasts and up-to-date information about developments of the natural disasters happening in their localities.

And this was not because the natural disasters bypassed Viettel’s telecommunication cables and facilities. In fact, the local Viettel telecommunication network was badly damaged. The head of the Da Bac district technical team of the Hoa Binh Viettel Technical Center, Tran The Linh, said, “The heavy rains and floods seriously affected many of Viettel’s BTS in the district. There were 35 breakoffs in the optical cable system. We successfully connected up 33 points during the rains and floods. We have not yet fixed the two remaining breakoffs because they are in very difficult terrains. Apart from the maintenance of the optical cable system, we had to keep our BTS operational in the context of power cut-offs. Due to the fact that most local roads were submerged by water or buried by landslides, we had to transport fuel for power generators at the BTS by boat and sometimes we had to wade through mud dozens of kilometers carrying single cans of petrol up to BTS. According to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), it will take 20 days for power workers to fix the local power system.

Supporting victims of floods

Although Viettel workers had to work hard all day and night to maintain the local Viettel telecommunication network, they did not forget to render support and assistance to local people when eye-witnessing their huge losses.

Recalling the flash flood on the night of October 10, Mr. Quach Cong Hung, resident of Nhap Ngoai hamlet, Dong Ruong commune, Da Bac, said “torrential rains started from the evening. The stream nearby my house rose quickly and rushed in violently. In that dangerous situation, my neighbors and I decided to evacuate our families to a safer place. Luckily, as soon as we had just left our homes, a huge flash flood came in and we were completely isolated. When we ran away, we did not manage to carry any food. All of us had nothing to eat for a day until the evening of October 11 when workers of Hoa Binh Viettel rowed to us and gave us instant noodles,” Hung remembered the horrible day.

Head of the Da Bac Viettel technical team Tran The Linh, who was one of the Viettel workers restlessly transporting food to isolated local people during the disaster, said, “We thought that many local people might have fled from their homes due to the floods so we brought dried food with us to support local people when we were going to fix the cable network and supplying fuel for power generators at our BTS.”

Before the low depression landed in Hoa Binh and several other Northern provinces, the leadership of the Hoa Binh Viettel branch had drawn up plans to respond to natural disasters. Its staff in disaster-prone localities had been asked to maintain the local communication network in any circumstances and be ready to participate in disaster relief and rescue missions.

During the rains and floods, the branch continually transported fuel and food to its working teams in flood-hit localities to support local people. 

Team leader Linh told, “When we were on the way to check our network in the communes of Tien Phong, Dong Ruong and Muong Tong during the night of October 11, we heard someone yelling and flashlight from distance. We canoed toward the yelling and saw a dozen of people, including elderly and children, on a raft. The people said that they had not eaten for more than a day. We gave them instant noodles and clean water and informed rescue missions to take them to safer places.”

Chairman of the Da Bac District People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Dung said that the district suffered numerous human and material losses during the flooding.

“Without efficient and timely assistance of armed forces, the losses could have been greater. I saw Viettel with power generators, cans of petrol and instant noodles on their shoulders walking dozens of kilometers in rains and floods to “hot spots” to support other forces in rescuing victims of landslides, or to fix breakdowns in their network. The normal operation of Viettel’s network during rains and floods in the locality was significant for disaster relief and rescue operations. They also actively participated in evacuation and disaster relief activities. Viettel’s officers and workers are always reliable friends of local people,” the district leader said.

Translated by Thu Nguyen