Students from Ly Tu Trong Secondary School in Tuyen Quang are evacuated after severe flooding caused by Typhoon Bualoi submerged the campus on October 2.
Principal Dang Thi Hong Nhung told Dantri/Dtinews that most of the students are ethnic minority children who live in dormitories at the school, some coming from villages as far as 170 km away. Many only return home only every few months.
Around 100 students living nearby have been taken in by their families. However, more than 100 others from remote villages, where roads remain blocked by landslides, have been sheltered by teachers and residents. Some are staying temporarily at the commune police station.
“It's unclear when classes will resume, as much of the students’ learning and living equipment has been swept away or badly damaged,” Nhung said, adding that this was the most sudden and powerful flood she had ever experienced.
The students’ learning and living equipment has been swept away or badly damaged by the floods.
She recalled that floodwaters began rising at around 10 pm on October 1. Teachers and students rushed to move belongings to the second floor, but by 2 am, water had already reached one metre, submerging half of the first-floor classrooms and cutting off electricity.
“In the darkness, more than 200 teachers and students waited for help. We called rescue forces, but they were still busy saving residents in more dangerous areas. By 5 am, floodwaters had reached the second floor. At that point, local militia arrived with makeshift rafts to evacuate all students to the commune police station,” Nhung said.
Locals described the flood as the most devastating since 1969. Many teaching tools, books and supplies have been lost or destroyed.
Some teachers and students clean the school on October 3.
Through Dantri/Dtinews Newspaper, the school appealed to readers, philanthropists, organisations and individuals to provide learning materials and essential supplies to help the students stabilise their lives and return to their studies soon.
