Wet and more wet

On June 25th, 2011, Tha Thom district experienced leftovers of a typhoon coming over Vietnam. It dumped rain on Xieng Khuang province – and lots of it!

Early in the morning, I walked to the market in the falling rain. When I returned to our house, I looked down to the river and was surprised to see it had risen over night and was almost up to the bottom of our terraces. This is almost a meter (three feet) higher than normal!

The Swollen River

As the morning progressed, the rain continued and the river rose still more. At about noon Jeffrey was called to the MCC office because water was beginning to flood the bottom floor and staff had to quickly move all the electronics to the second story. When he came back, Jeffrey said, ‘You have to see this! Half of town is flooded!’

MCC Tha Thom Office Under Water

A walk around town later that afternoon proved this was definitely a flood. The lower area of Tha Thom, where the market, hospital and several district offices are, was under water (anywhere from a meter to six inches) The MCC office included!

The Office Pond

In all Tha Thom District was dumped with five days of steady rain. Here in the capital, we experienced major erosion, washing away the butcher shop and moving large amounts of sand and rock. Other areas of the district were also hit hard. A bridge on the way to one of our target villages was destroyed. Farmers are also suffering as seeds beds were washed away and whole fields are now covered with sand. We have heard reports that in other areas of the province, whole villages have been washed away!

Our Lake behind the Office

Preparing for the Second Flood

To make things worse the next weekend we had several days of heavy rain and the river rose again. This time people were more prepared, or at least we were at the MCC office. The staff joined together, filling bags with sand and building a dike in front of each door. The water rose, but thankfully stayed out of the office this time.

Filling Sand Bags

Wet and Happy

Teamwork

District Offices Flooded

The government has responded as well as a number of INGO’s, providing rice and supplies, recording damage and planning for rebuilding.

Since the rains have stopped, the rivers have receded back to their normal monsoon level. We are thankful to be dry again, and besides losing a large portion of our terraces, experienced little damage to our garden and home.