Overcoming difficulties to deliver timely relief supplies
Two days have passed, National Highway 7A, which connects the Western communes of Nghe An province, has suffered severe landslides and deep flooding, causing road traffic completely paralyzed and preventing the rescue force from accessing the area by land.
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Troops loading relief supplies onto the helicopter |
At Vinh Airport, MR4 Commander Lieutenant General Ha Tho Binh required relevant units to pro-actively and closely coordinate with each other, prepare flight plans, and carefully select safe landing zones to ensure that relief supplies reach the intended locations and recipients.
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Pilots conduct a quick briefing before takeoff. |
The first flight successfully landed in Tuong Duong commune. Local people were deeply moved to witness a helicopter arriving in their village for the first time, carrying food, fresh water, life jackets, medicine, and other essential supplies. By the afternoon of July 24, the two helicopters had completed six successful flights, transporting more than 18 tons of relief goods to support people in isolated areas.
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Lt. Gen. Ha Tho Binh directs the helicopter-based relief operations for flood-hit people. |
After completing two successful flights, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duc Khanh, Head of the Training Department of the Northern Vietnam Helicopter Company, shared that transporting relief supplies by helicopters to the western communes of Nghe An province faced many challenges. Finding suitable drop-off points for supplies was also difficult. Fortunately, Tuong Duong commune had a stadium that allowed for safe landing. However, in My Ly and Nhon Mai communes, the rugged mountainous terrain and floodwaters left the crew with no option but to air-drop the supplies. Helicopters were scheduled to reach Muong Tip, an area severely isolated and affected by landslides; however, due to worsening weather conditions, the crew was forced to divert and land instead in Chan village, Tuong Duong commune.
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With six flights, more than 18 tons of goods transported to people in isolated areas. |
Mobilizing maximum forces and vehicles to support flood-hit people
Tran Thi Tra, a pregnant woman from Anh Son commune, and her family urgently requested help from local authorities to get her across flooded areas to Con Cuong Hospital. Knowing about the critical situation as she was about to give birth, non-commissioned Senior Captain Nguyen Van Hoang, a KAMAZ truck driver from the Transport Team of the Nghe An provincial Military Command, took on the mission of driving through the floodwaters to transport her to safety.
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After days of isolation, flood-hit people moved by the arrival of military helicopters bringing aid |
Earlier, non-commissioned Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Canh Loan from the Nghe An provincial Military Command, drove a canoe through the fast-flowing flood to take patient Nguyen Van Cuong in Anh Son commune to Con Cuong Hospital for emergency dialysis.
In the residential area No.2 in Con Cuong commune, the Command of the Defensive Area Region 4 - Tuong Duong mobilized nearly 20 officers and soldiers to help local people clean up mud and debris left behind by the flood.
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Lt. Gen. Ha Tho Binh delivers relief supplies to isolated people in Tuong Duong. |
Over the past several days, the armed forces stationed in the localities have mobilized the maximum number of personnel to help local people in evacuating their property to safer places.
In My Ly commune, more than 160 families had their houses and belongings completely swept away by the flood. Local authorities and other forces have focused on setting up temporary shelters and repairing lightly damaged houses so that people could have a place to stay. They have also provided food, medicines, and healthcare services for flood-hit people.
Translated by Quynh Oanh