By Tran Xuan Thuy – Project Assistant of Disaster Mitigation in Trieu Phong ADP

On the night Typhoon Ketsana struck Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Bao Chi (Chi), 9, a young girl from the central provinces stayed up very late into the night, shivering from the cold and fearing the powerful wind and rain outside.

“My siblings and I were going to bed when flood water suddenly came into our house. We were able to take some clothes and notebooks before we quickly moved to our garret,” said Chi.

In Vietnam flooding occurs so often that families are now building elevated wooden platforms called ‘garrets’ in their homes to retreat to when flood waters enter the house. Much like an attic, the wooden platform is a safe place for children to sleep and to store goods like sacks of rice.

“My parents asked us to wrap our hands tightly around the column of our garret because they were afraid we might fall into the flood. I was so scared that night,” the little girl in Trieu Phong District recalled.

“The next morning we still stayed on the garret because the water was so high. My father managed to bring up two bags of rice but we couldn’t cook it. Strong wind and heavy rain made everything wet,” Chi continued. “I was so cold and hungry. I ate cold instant noodles. Other houses in my village were also under water.”

On September 29, Typhoon Ketsana struck huge areas of Central and Central Highlands Vietnam, causing severe floods in many places. The level of floodwater ranged between 1-6 metres in affected areas, including the area where Nguyen comes from.

“My house is 2 metres tall but the water level was up to 1.8 meters. The floods swept away nearly 200 kg of rice and most of the things in my house, including our clothes and my children’s books and notebooks. There’s only the 14-inch TV left,” said Chi’s mother, Phan Thi Nga.

“Before the typhoon, the local authority asked all villagers to reinforce their houses. The wind screamed and the sky turned leaden when the typhoon affected our village,” continued Chi’s mother.

“We experienced a similar flood in 1999 so I named my second child Rain, who was born in that year. The flood this year is more serious than that,” she said.

Chi’s mother said her family received some packages of noodles from World Vision, not long after the worst of the storm passed. “We received some noodles on the following morning and were evacuated to a safe place in the afternoon.”

Life hasn’t returned normal; the flood waters have destroyed much of what the typhoon left behind.

“We won’t have seeds for our crops,” Chi’s mother said. “At present, all our paddy fields and rice seed have turned musty. The water was dirty and contaminated everything it touched. What we have now is a TV and a flood-ravaged wardrobe.”

“My feet are very itchy because the flood water was dirty,” said Chi, rubbing her sore feet.

Chi’s said her school was also battered by the typhoon. “All our notebooks and text books are tattered,” Chi said. “My school was also submerged. The tables and chairs are under water and trees in the school yard are broken. I think it will take a long time for us to go back school. But would I love to go to school soon,” she said.