As floodwaters receded on Thursday, Thai Nguyen Province in northern Vietnam was left blanketed in thick mud and debris, with its residents struggling to recover from the worst floods the area has seen in decades.

Vo Nhai Commune, one of the hardest-hit areas, was inundated after torrential rains caused the Cau River to overflow and nearby streams to surge, submerging entire villages overnight.

Ha Thi Thao, a local resident, lost everything.

"The flood came in the middle of the night," she said, her voice shaking.

"I managed to open the door and shout for my family to run.

"My son tried to go back for our things, but I told him to leave everything. 

"The water rose to my chest, and all we could do was cling to each other and stumble into the darkness."

When the water finally subsided, nothing remained of her home.

"Our rice fields were about to be harvested. All gone," Thao said.

"The clothes I'm wearing now were given by neighbors. 

"I've lost everything."

In Phuong Ba Hamlet of Dan Tien Commune, the floodwaters hit with devastating force, "like a dam bursting," residents said. 

Many spent the night clinging to rooftops, waiting for rescue.

Sixty-year-old Linh Thi Duc and her family of four narrowly escaped.

"We had just started building a stilt house when the flood came," she said.

"That night, we climbed up to the rafters to avoid the water. 

"It rose to our chests even on the second level. 

"My son tied a tarpaulin between houses so we could crawl over to the neighbor's roof. 

"The kids were terrified."

Rescue boats were scarce, and the family was stranded until the next evening when local militia reached them.

"It's a blessing we're still alive," Duc said.

When the water receded, neighbors came to help her clean up.

They hauled out broken furniture, washed mud-caked belongings, and scraped thick layers of silt off the floors.

"It took more than ten people working all day just to clear half the courtyard," she said.

Nearby, Dan Tien Elementary School and Dan Tien Kindergarten were also heavily flooded. 

Residents who had parked their motorbikes in the schoolyard for safety found them submerged. 

Classrooms were left covered in mud, with ruined books, desks, and teaching materials. 

Teachers, parents, and villagers worked together for days to clean up.

Preliminary reports show that the historic floods inundated about 200,000 homes across Thai Nguyen, destroyed or damaged more than 4,700 hectares of rice and 1,600 hectares of crops, and swept away hundreds of thousands of poultry.

In Dong Gianh Hamlet, farmer Ha Van Hoan stood in his drenched field, quietly assessing the loss.

"Months of work's gone in a single night," he said.

"This field should have yielded dozens of bags of rice, but now we'll be lucky to fill a few."