Flood-hit Trai Cau in Thai Nguyen Province finds hope, humanity amid rising devastation
After historic floods devastated Trai Cau Commune in Thai Nguyen Province, acts of kindness from journalists, donors and students brought light and hope to hundreds of struggling families.
THE HANOI TIMES — In Trai Cau Commune of the northern province of Thai Nguyen, mud stains still mark the walls and the air remains heavy with dampness. After four days of historic rainfall and devastating floods from October 6 to October 9, the people are left counting what is gone.
Trai Cau, a mountainous commune with small streams winding through its villages, usually depends on these gentle waters for daily life and farming. But after days of heavy rain, the streams turned violent.
Muddy fields in Trai Cau Commune remain covered in silt days after the water recede. Photos: Lai Tan/The Hanoi Times
Typhoon Matmo, the 11th tropical storm hitting Vietnam’s mainland and its aftermath in early October 2025 brought the worst flooding the area had seen in decades.
The house of Nguyen Thi Ha in Dong Lam Hamlet still carries the faint smell of floodwater and mud, even after thorough cleaning. On the altar, the photo of her father, a wounded veteran, has been carefully wiped and placed upright again as a fragile symbol of order amid the wreckage.
Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Thanh Loi of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper speaks at the ceremony supporting flood-hit residents in Trai Cau Commune.
Representatives of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper and local leaders present aid packages to affected households.
“That midnight (October 6), the water rose so fast,” Ha recalled. “I only had time to take the cow and dog to a neighbor’s house. Everything else was swept away.”
Her family had just escaped poverty last year but now faces the risk of falling back. The house cracked, debts remain unpaid and the future feels uncertain.
Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper representatives hand over food and cash to affected families in Trai Cau.
Nearby, farmer Dang Van Chinh remembered standing helplessly on a hill as floodwaters carried away his pigs and ducks. He said he could still hear them crying below but could not reach them.
According to the commune People’s Committee, rainfall reached 548 millimeters, flooding over 230 households and forcing 242 to evacuate. Landslides cut through village roads, nine bridges collapsed and ten kilometers of road were damaged. Total losses were estimated at around US$1.15 million.
Farmer Dang Van Chinh recalls losing his livestock as floodwaters swept through his village.
Yet the people of Trai Cau remained resilient. Once the waters receded, they returned to clean, patch walls and rebuild what little they could with bare hands and quiet determination.
Kindness arrives in time
When the water finally subsided, a delegation from Kinh te & Do thi (Economic & Urban) Newspaper arrived in Trai Cau Commune on October 18 with boxes of food, envelopes of support and words of comfort. Their visit brought warmth and hope to families struggling to rebuild.
Together with donors, they delivered 100 relief packages to affected families, including 95 at the commune hall and five directly to the most vulnerable households. The supplies included food, cash and daily necessities.
Student Nguyen Huy Long, who donated his scholarship to help flood victims, visits Nguyen Xuan Duong’s family in Trai Cau.
The program was funded through voluntary donations from the newspaper’s staff and supported by corporate partners and benefactors.
Among them were Acecook Vietnam, which donated 200 boxes of noodles worth $1,000, Truc An Trading and Services Company, which contributed $400, and Vu Thanh Huong, a union officer from Petrovietnam, who sent 200 sponge cakes for the villagers.
Nguyen Xuan Duong, one of the rescued residents, looks at relief supplies delivered by the delegation.
Especially touching was the contribution of student Nguyen Huy Long from the High School for Gifted Students under the Vietnam National University in Hanoi.
He donated his scholarship and New Year savings to help the victims. His quiet gesture and words, “I just hope people can smile again soon”, moved everyone present.
Speaking at the ceremony, Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Thanh Loi of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper expressed sympathy for the local people.
“These gifts may be small in material value, but they carry our hearts, compassion and spirit of togetherness. We hope more organizations and individuals will join so that no one is left behind after this disaster,” he said.
The hole made by rescuers to pull a trapped family to safety during the flood night in Trai Cau.
Commune Party Secretary Tran Van Khuong expressed his gratitude. “We are thankful for this timely support. The presence of the newspaper and donors gives us strength to rebuild,” he said.
The light after the storm
At the house of Nguyen Xuan Duong, the waterline still reaches the roof, a reminder of the night when his family had to climb to the attic before soldiers broke through the ceiling to rescue them.
In another hamlet, Hoang Van Luan and his wife pointed to a wall where the flood mark was barely a hand’s width below the ceiling. More than 2,000 chickens were lost and the house cracked and turned moldy.
Still, he smiled faintly. “As long as we’re alive, we’ll start again,” he said.
Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper representatives hand over food and cash to affected families in Trai Cau.
At the small home of sisters Pham Thi Nga and Pham Ngoc Anh, built by a charity near a stream, the mud still reached chest height. The walls were split and the floor had sunk.
When Nga received the relief gift, her hands shook. “We’re grateful,” she said softly. “We just pray the rain won’t come again.”
: The delegation of Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper visits flood-affected areas in Trai Cau to assess local damage.
After the rain, the sky clears again. Villagers began clearing debris, mending roofs and reopening small canals that connect their fields. Amid the devastation, the sight of shared gifts and genuine smiles represented the beauty of human compassion.
The relief trip to Trai Cau was an act of charity and empathy that connected journalists, businesses, students and villagers through one shared belief: humanity endures even after the storm.
Because while the flood may wash away homes and fields, it cannot wash away kindness.
