 |
| Yên Bái Provincial Party Secretary Trần Huy Tuấn visiting and presenting gifts to a victim of Typhoon Yagi. VNA/VNS Photo Đinh Thuỳ |
YÊN BÁI - Typhoon Yagi left unprecedented devastation in Yên Bái Province, causing extensive loss of life, widespread damage to homes and destruction of critical infrastructure.
Amid the tragedy, the province witnessed a swift and unified response from the political system, government and local communities, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and compassion.
With timely policies, financial support and collaborative efforts, authorities prioritised stabilising lives and rebuilding homes to ensure no one would be left behind.
Compassion in the devastation
Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc across Yên Bái. The province recorded 54 fatalities, 42 injuries, damaged more than 27,300 homes and thousands of households were unable to return to their residences due to high landslide risks. Additionally, countless infrastructure facilities were destroyed, with total damages estimated at over VNĐ5.7 trillion (US$224 million).
In mid-December, in Át Thượng Hamlet, Minh Xuân Commune, Lục Yên District (where a landslide killed nine people, injured three, destroyed six homes and forced dozens of households to evacuate), residents are still haunted by the disaster. Despite the lingering sorrow, thanks to the care and support from Party committees, authorities, political organisations and benevolent donors, the area is striving to rise again.
Hoàng Văn Tiện, who saved three people during the harrowing night in Át Thượng, recalled the events. Around 2am on September 10, after hearing a deafening roar from a landslide, he noticed his neighbours’ homes had disappeared. Hearing cries for help, he rushed to rescue a child and brought it to safety and later with the help of others, helped rescue two more people trapped in the rubble.
After enduring both physical and emotional trauma, Hoàng Thị Thắng, who was saved by Tiện, remains unable to forget the life-or-death moment. “Three of us were sleeping on the second floor when the hill suddenly collapsed, burying us up to our necks. If Tiện hadn’t arrived in time, we wouldn’t have survived. Our family is forever grateful to him,” Thắng said.
For those who thought they had nowhere to return to, community support has allowed hamlets and residential areas to gradually recover. The dream of new, safe homes is becoming a reality.
After losing her home and her husband, Hoàng Thị Nhiên now lives with her mother-in-law and her children in her brother-in-law’s house. “That dreadful night will always haunt me,” Nhiên recounted, fighting back tears. She explained how her husband, who had been sleeping on the ground floor, was buried in the landslide. It took rescue teams 16 days to recover his body. With no stable job, rebuilding their home was a daunting prospect for Nhiên. However, support from Military Region 2 and local authorities has given her hope. She has been allocated a house in a new resettlement area and received financial assistance of VNĐ60 million ($2,400) from the province.
“Natural disasters didn’t take everything,” Nhiên reflected. “I still have my children to lean on. With a new, safe house, I feel motivated to strive forward, caring for my child and elderly mother.”
 |
| Military Region 2, as directed by the Central Military Commission, has helped construct a resettlement project for 35 households in Át Thượng Hamlet, and construction teams are racing to complete the homes in time for the Lunar New Year. VNA/VNS Photo Đinh Thuỳ |
Timely humanitarian resolutions
Military Region 2, as directed by the Central Military Commission, has helped construct a resettlement project for 35 households in Át Thượng Hamlet. The houses, designed in the traditional Tày stilt-house style, are 130 square metres in size and cost VNĐ650 million ($25,500) each. The project began on November 18 and construction teams are racing to complete the homes in time for the Lunar New Year.
To address Typhoon Yagi’s aftermath, Yên Bái Province implemented early and proactive measures, mobilising the political system to respond and recover. Deputy Chairman Nguyễn Thế Phước of the Yên Bái People’s Committee said that the province’s swift social welfare policies had been key. The Provincial People’s Council promptly issued two resolutions, one to support tuition fees for preschool to university students during the 2024-2025 academic year, and another to provide financial assistance for agricultural production recovery.
For families who lost their homes, the council approved 209 projects reallocating 13 hectares of land for resettlement. Financial assistance and land allocations were made to ensure safe and stable living conditions.
Yên Bái has so far allocated VNĐ300 billion ($11.7 million) for recovery efforts, relocated over 21,000 households, and repaired or built nearly 1,300 homes. These measures have helped restore normalcy to people’s lives, with the province hoping that all affected households will have new homes before the Lunar New Year.
Through its disaster response and recovery efforts, Yên Bái has strengthened public trust in the Party’s leadership and the collective strength of the political system from central to local levels. VNS
