Nhật Tân's peach farming area has been submerged in floodwater for days. VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI – The significant rising water level of the Red River due to the impacts of Typhoon Yagi, caused widespread flooding in the peach blossom farming areas of Nhật Tân and Phú Thượng wards in Hà Nội.

Tens of thousands of peach trees have died due to waterlogging and damage from the typhoon, leaving many families who worked the land facing severe losses.

Putting their losses aside, with the support of local authorities, some households are now striving to revive the dead peach blossom areas to prepare for the upcoming Tết holiday.

While tying up the branches of peach trees that had lost their leaves due to the storm, Nguyễn Trung Việt, a farmer in Nhật Tân Ward, Tây Hồ District, said that his family had been carefully tending hundreds of peach trees in anticipation of the Lunar New Year 2024 bloom.

However, Typhoon Yagi caused many trees to become waterlogged and their roots to rot.

His family has uprooted the dead trees, dried them out to burn, while still caring for the surviving ones in hopes of minimising losses.

“In addition to replacing dead trees by planting new ones, we have moved the surviving peach trees to higher ground to avoid flooding during future rainstorms,” Việt said.

More than 400 peach branches belonging to Đỗ Văn Thắng, a peach grower in Phú Thượng Village were lost due to flooding, with estimated damages exceeding VNĐ200 million.

The mass destruction of peach trees due to waterlogging and root rot isn't just affecting Nhật Tân, but also Phú Thượng, where thousands of peach trees are facing the same fate.

Many peach-growing households in Phú Thượng Ward in Tây Hồ District have put personal difficulties aside to focus on saving their orchards.

Remaining optimistic, Phạm Thanh Hương, a peach farmer in Phú Thượng Ward, expressed hope that as the floodwaters receded, leaving so many trees dead and their leaves wilted, the land along the Red River has also been replenished with a new layer of silt on top of soil that had been diminished in terms of nutrients.

“Perhaps new life will sprout from these dead peach orchards?” she said.

Prolonged flooding has caused many peach trees in Phú Thượng Village in Tây Hồ District, Hà Nội to die from root rot.

Soon after the floodwaters receded, Tây Hồ District authorities directed relevant departments and local ward governments to quickly assess the damage and develop loan support plans to help peach-growing households restore production.

Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee Nguyễn Thanh Tịnh, said that the district was planning to propose a fund worth VNĐ85 billion to the district People’s Council to support loans through the Social Policy Bank, offering a two-year loan period with interest rates reduced to the level of the bank's management costs according to state regulations.

Reports from the Tây Hồ District People's Committee showed that due to the rising Red River, some areas outside the dikes in Phú Thượng, Nhật Tân, Quảng An, Tứ Liên and Yên Phụ wards were flooded.

Most of the agricultural land was waterlogged, with some areas in residential neighbourhoods also submerged.

The preliminary estimate for agricultural damage is about 179.05 hectares of crops, amounting to approximately VNĐ86.5 billion in losses, of which the peach blossom farming area alone accounts for 65.05 hectares, valued at over VNĐ39 billion.

Tây Hồ District is continuing to assess the storm and flood damage to propose support measures for affected residents.

These efforts include organising agricultural land rehabilitation, disease prevention for ornamental plants and flowers, proposing preferential loan policies and mobilising donations to support those affected by Typhoon Yagi to help them quickly stabilise their lives and resume production and business activities. – VNS