Local residents in a shelter in Nghĩa Hiệp Commune in the central province of Quảng Ngãi. — Photo qdnd.vn

QUẢNG NGÃI — Lê Thị Hiệp feeds her 96-year-old mother porridge, but they are not at their own home in Quảng Ngãi Province. 

Instead, they are staying in Nghĩa Hiệp Secondary School which has been converted into temporary accommodation to house people evacuated because of super typhoon Noru.

Hiệp and the many other families staying there are provided with free meals and blankets. They also received daily health checks by local medical staff.

“When I was worrying about the big storm and did not know how to prepare for it in our temporary house, local soldiers and militiamen came to support us to move us to a safe place,” she told Quân đội Nhân dân (People’s Army) online newspaper.

“I feel really grateful.”

Hiệp and her mother are among 13,787 local people in the province, who are living in areas at risk of flash floods and landslides that could be triggered by the typhoon.

They have been evacuated to safe shelters by the local authority and the army.

Sitting next to Hiệp’s bed, Nguyễn Thị Kim Nga, of Đông Mỹ Village, Nghĩa Hiệp Commune, said when representatives of the local army force and administration came to her house to tell her and her husband to move to a safe shelter, she felt very worried as she did not know how they will eat and live.

“However, all of my worries disappeared when we were given free meals in a warm and safe place,” she said.

"They also gave my husband, who has been ill, enough medicines daily. I feel very secure,” she said.

“No matter how big a storm is, we will do not worry because the local administration takes care of the people carefully.”

Care-givers

People prepare a meal for local residents in a shelter in Nghĩa Hiệp Commune in the central province of Quảng Ngãi. — Photo qdnd.vn

Bùi Thị Đào, chairwoman of the commune’s Women Union, was assigned to lead a team of a dozen women to prepare meals for the people living in the school to avoid the typhoon.

On Tuesday evening, the team still worked very hard to prepare Wednesday's breakfast as soon as they had finished making hundreds of meals for dinner.

Võ Thị Thịnh, chairwoman of the People’s Committee of the commune, also participated in preparing meals for the local people.

Thịnh said nearly 200 households were evacuated before the typhoon made landfall.

These are all poor homes, living in old and dilapidated houses or temporary and unsafe houses, she said.

Also many elderly, lonely and sick people, as well as households in extremely difficult circumstances were evacuated.

All expenses for food, medical care and essential necessities for the daily life of people in the avoiding-storm areas are taken from the commune's fund, she said.

Colonel Võ Văn Bá, commander of Quảng Ngãi Province’s Military Command, said after a few days of hard work to prepare for the storm, he and his colleagues felt secure when tens of thousands of people in the province have been evacuated to safe shelters.

"The lives of poor households is already very hard," he said.

"Now they have to temporarily leave their houses to avoid the storm, it is hard to avoid the feeling of worry. We have to support them in a timely manner, absolutely not letting them being hungry.

“Our natural disaster prevention and control will be successful and meaningful only when all people are safe,” Bá stressed.

Good leaves cover torn leaves

Nguyễn Sơn Tùng, owner of a hotel in Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Sơn Trà District prepares a meal for tourists and local people who stay for free at his hotel to avoid the storm. — Photo cadn.com.vn

In a related movement, dozens of hotels and resorts in Đà Nẵng City and Quảng Nam Province’s Hội An City have been providing free sleeping places and meals for poor and disadvantaged people during the storm.

In Quảng Nam Province, a resort in Duy Xuyên District has opened its doors to welcome people in living dangerous areas to avoid the storm.

By Tuesday afternoon, the resort had welcomed nearly 200 people from Duy Hải Commune, Duy Xuyên District.

Most of them are the elderly, children and pregnant women.

Kim Huệ, owner of a hotel in Tân An Ward, Hội An City said the hotel has received nearly 100 disadvantaged people coming there to avoid the storm.

“We are ready to support people. Hopefully, everyone is safe," she said.

In Đà Nẵng City, Nguyễn Sơn Tùng, owner of a hotel in Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Sơn Trà District said his hotel has 28 rooms, which are hired by tourists.

The tourists, who cannot leave the city due to the storm, will not be charged for rooms and meals for both Tuesday and Wednesday.

In addition, the hotel has 18 available rooms to welcome poor residents and students, who are living in unsafe houses, to stay for free during the two days, Tùng said.

The meals are also provided for free, Tùng said.

“I just want all of people are safe,” he added.

Trần Văn Hiểu, a resident living in a temporary house in Sơn Trà District, said he and four members of his family were warmly welcomed at Tùng’s hotel.

“Both the owner and the staff here are very friendly,” he said. "They not only gave us free accomodation but also free meals."

Typhoon’s developments

Due to the typhoon, torrential rains with the maximum rainfall of up to 654mm had blanketed provinces of Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi and Đà Nẵng City on Tuesday.

Data from the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Wednesday morning showed that the typhoon injured four people, damaged 120 houses and completely destroyed 180 restaurants along the beach in Quảng Trị Province.

In Thừa Thiên-Huế Provine, the typhoon injured one person.

It has also caused massive blackouts in Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi and Kon Tum.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said that the typhoon had weakened to a tropical low-pressure system on Wednesday morning after it made its landfall on provinces of Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Ngãi.

The tropical low-pressure system is moving west at 20-25km per hour. — VNS