Many areas in Hue City are flooded due to heavy rain triggered by the Typhoon Bualoi on September 29.
Chau The Lieu Trang, 43, announced that anyone from unsafe areas, including locals, visitors, and students, could temporarily stay at her hotel and villas during the storm.
Trang has 15 vacant rooms at her Poetic Hue Hotel in Thuan Hoa Ward and six more at the Sunshine Villa in Thuy Xuan Ward. All properties are situated on elevated ground, safe from flooding, and equipped with electricity, water, Wi-Fi, and other essential amenities.
After she shared the offer on Facebook, more than 10 residents from flood-hit Nguyen Huu Canh Street and several students living in inundated neighbourhoods sought shelter. Families and groups of acquaintances are being grouped in rooms for convenience.
“Seeing residents and tourists struggling in the floods is heartbreaking. As long as there are rooms available, I'll open them to everyone,” Trang said.
Le Nguyen Linh Dan, 18, a first-year student at Hue University of Foreign Languages, said she and her roommates fled their flooded rental home to Trang’s hotel about 5 km away. “If we'd stayed, our lives could have been at risk. Being welcomed and sheltered for free made us very grateful,” she said.
Phan Hoang Dung, 28, from Hoa Chau Ward, where a tornado had recently damaged many houses, moved into the hotel with her husband while awaiting the birth of their child. “Receiving free accommodation and meals during this difficult time means so much,” she said.
Trang has been offering free shelter during storms for the past four years.
Typhoon Bualoi made landfall in central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Hue at 1 am on September 29, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
Latest reports showed that by noon the same day, it had left 12 people dead, including nine in Ninh Binh and three in Thanh Hoa, Hue, and Danang. Seventeen fishermen from Ho Chi Minh City and Gia Lai remain missing after contact was lost with three boats. Tens of thousands of homes have been damaged.
The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting warned that the storm would continue to bring strong winds along the central coast and heavy rain across the north-central and northern regions through September 30.
