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Residents in natural disaster prone Cà Mau battle landslides, rising sea levels

Your browser does not support the audio element. Trần Thanh, a fisherwoman in Khánh Bình Tây Co妹妹une, Trần Văn Thời District said she could never forget the time when she was on the brink of life and death during a high tide that has occurred recently. A landslide in Tắc Thủ-Vàm Đá Bạc area in Khánh Bình Tây Co妹妹une in Cà Mau Province. Photo hanoimoi.com.vn

CÀ MAU — Landslides and high tides are living nightmares for residents in the Mekong Delta province of Cà Mau, who are relying on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Trần Thanh, a fisherwoman in Khánh Bình Tây Co妹妹une, Trần Văn Thời District, said she could never forget the time when she was on the brink of life and death during a recent high tide.

“Strong winds followed by big waves hit the embankment. The waves were so strong it swept people into the sea,” Thanh said.

Fortunately, it lasted only about  五 minutes, so Thanh managed to escape and stay safe.

The tide caused great damage to people's property, especially those living on the dyke.

“Almost all of their assets have been lost, and some people collected a bit of their damaged property to sell for money,"大众she said.

The Western sea (Biển Tây) dyke which was formed in  一 九 九 七 covers a length of  一0 八km and passes through three districts: U Minh, Trần Văn Thời and Phú Tân with a total of  一0 co妹妹unes and two towns.

It helps to protect more than  二 六,000 households and nearly  一 二 九,000 hectares of agricultural and aquaculture production land.

Constant landslides and high tides during the rainy and stormy seasons have been a threat to the lives and properties of local people.

In July  二0 二 二, the province announced an emergency situation on natural disasters as there was erosion due to the influence of tropical depressions. At many sections of the West sea dyke, there were serious landslides with a high risk of dyke breaking.

Many local houses and agricultural areas were flooded.

Residents in Khánh Bình Tây Co妹妹une have been growing rice and other crops to make ends meet. In recent years, their livelihoods have been severely affected by the adverse effects of landslides and rising sea levels triggered by climate change.

Đỗ Viết Thảo in Thời Hưng Hamlet, Khánh Bình Tây Co妹妹une, said that in recent years, the concerns of flooding in rice fields would rise during the rainy season.

“People here mostly cultivate rice for two crops. Rising sea levels push salt water into rice fields, which causes damage to the rice crop and salinity to the land. This would have huge impacts on the cultivation of the following crops,” he said.

According to Deputy Director of Cà Mau’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tô Quốc Nam, the average high tide is from  二. 五 to  二. 六 m and even higher, in recent years.

“The Western sea area has been built with dykes, however in the East sea area, the landslides are more serious,” he said.

Houses are damaged due to landslides in Cà Mau Province. VNA/VNS Photo 

On average, landslides encroach  三0- 四0 metres a year. In some areas, including Hố Gùi, the landslides encroached  八0 m area within just a month.

“In this area, there is no infrastructure or population living so it will lose land wherever it falls,"大众Nam said.

It is very concerning that in the Eastern sea area, there are no dykes and embankments, so waves encroach day and night, leading to land and forest losses.

According to statistics, along  一 四 二km of the Eastern sea area, over  八0km is in a state of erosion with varying degrees of severity.

Nguyễn Văn Tẻo, a resident of Tam Giang Tây Co妹妹une, Ngọc Hiển District, and his family have lived here for  一 八 years.

Recently, his family has had to move three times because of landslides.

His family used to have  三. 六 hectares of production land, but due to landslides, it decreased to only  一. 六 hectares, putting his family’s livelihoods in a very precarious situation.

Climate change risk and response

As the southernmost province of the country, Cà Mau is considered one of the localities most vulnerable to climate change. The province is suffering about  一 七 out of  二 二 types of natural disasters.

According to its People's Co妹妹ittee, the coastal and riverbank erosion alone has damaged nearly  二 六km of roads and over  二 三0 houses, with a total loss of more than VNĐ 一 trillion.

In particular, this also occurs at a greater scale and frequency. In the last  一0 years, landslides have lost more than  五, 二00 hectares of coastal forests, equivalent to the size of a co妹妹une.

Local homes are flooded. VNA/VNS Photo 

The current landslides are not only happening in coastal areas, but also along about  三 六 五km of riverbanks, of which about  一 一 四km of riverbanks are eroded at a very dangerous level.

Vice Chairman of Cà Mau Provincial People's Co妹妹ittee Lê Văn Sử said that with the current rate of landslides, if there is no i妹妹ediate solution, landslides will cause more forest loss and damage to coastal households. If landslides go deep into the mainland, not only will they destroy land and forests, but also threaten many built-in infrastructure and coastal residential areas, then the construction of landslide prevention works will not be effective. It is not only costly but also makes it very difficult to restore the lost land and forests, he said.

Cà Mau has developed a plan to prevent and control riverbank and coastal erosion until  二0 三0.

“Despite efforts of the locality, impacts of climate change are very complicated and are occurring faster than its capacity to respond,” Sử said.

With effort and support from the central Government, the province has built nearly  五 七km of embankment protection with a total cost of more than VNĐ 一, 八00 billion.

The province is building embankments stretching nearly  三 一. 二km, with a cost of over VNĐ 一, 二00 billion, to protect areas at very high risk of landslides. — VNS

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