The outcomes greatly came from the efforts of troops who wallowed in flood water and ran against time to overcome the consequences caused by the natural disaster to help locals soon stabilize their life. The practical deeds of troops received admiration and gratitude from the people in the Northern province.
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Troops help people in Nguyen Trai ward, Ha Giang city clean up after the flood. |
Nguyen Thi Ve, a woman in Nguyen Trai ward, Ha Giang city, recalled that when she and her family members felt disheartened seeing garbage and mud everywhere in her house after the flood water receding, troops of Regiment 877 of the provincial military command turned up. They promptly assisted her family to clean up the house and move necessities left to a safer place.
Hoang Thi Sen, a local in Quang Trung ward, said that she would never forget the image of troops risking their lives, squeezing through the narrow gap in the roof to rescue her and her two children from the dangerous area. According to Sen, she and her children panicked since she could not find the keys, and the flood water kept rising. Hearing the calling for help, troops arrived and took her and her children to a safe place.
As a person who directly commanded the rescue team, Deputy Chief of Staff of Regiment 877 Major Hoang Quang Trung said that he will forever remember the urgent situation. At the time when the flood water rose quickly, flooding many houses and many people called for help, hundreds of officers, soldiers, and local militia force with rescue equipment promptly used flashlights to search every house, checked every alley, took trapped residents to safer places and provided them with water and food... The officers and soldiers of the unit stayed all night with the people in the flood-affected areas. Fortunately, the rescue and relief operations were carried out safely.
Although the recent flood caused significant losses, people in the flood-affected areas of Ha Giang rarely lamented. Their stories these days are mostly about the deeds and efforts of troops and militiamen in helping the people respond to the flood. The stories about troops braving danger to search for and evacuating people to safer places and running against time and wallowing in flood water to move locals’ property to safe place, do the cleanup, repair houses and roads, speak volumes about the sentiment and responsibility of the officers and soldiers of the local military unit towards the people in time of danger and hardship.
Translated by Chung Anh