Thursday, October 9, 2025, 13:51 GMT+7

Locals, soldiers, police work through night to reinforce dikes in northern Vietnam

In an extraordinary show of solidarity, thousands of residents, soldiers, police officers, and local security personnel worked through the night on Wednesday to reinforce the Dau Han dike in Kinh Bac Ward under Bac Ninh Province, northern Vietnam, as the Cau River continues to swell.

The effort was driven by the urgent need to protect over 2,000 residents living within the dike-protected zone.

If floodwaters overflow outer dikes, residents’ lives and their property will be threatened.

Besides, the overflow will also affect the entire flood defense system of Kinh Bac Ward.

The People's Committee of Kinh Bac Ward said that the emergency operations began at 7:00 am on Tuesday.

Around 600 people, including police, local militia, and residents, initially constructed 600 meters of outer dikes using sandbags and protective sheeting.

The effort intensified the following day with an additional 2,500 sandbags and 600 meters of wave-blocking tarpaulin deployed.

More forces quickly joined the community effort to stem the rising waters the same day.

Among the volunteers was Nguyen Thi Tra, a teacher at Hoa Long Kindergarten and resident of Viem Xa Village near the Dau Han dike.

With the kindergarten closed, she and eight other teachers have been joining the flooding prevention effort for two days, she shared.

On Wednesday afternoon, another 40 teachers came to help, she said.

Tra recalled a similar situation last year during the aftermath of typhoon Yagi, the third storm to hit Vietnam in 2024, when floodwaters from the Cau River also rose dangerously high.

No one hesitated, and they did it for the safety of the community, she said.