Posted on October 19, 2026
In Tuy Phuoc Dong commune ( Gia Lai province ), a flood-prone area, the sight of rising water and flooded houses during the rainy season has become familiar to generations. Locals pass down the saying “9 shirts for 1 pair of pants” to describe the days spent wading through water. It sounds lighthearted, even somewhat humorous, but behind it lies the memory of successive rainy and flood seasons.
Mr. Huynh Si Ba (70 years old, residing in Vinh Quang village, Tuy Phuoc Dong commune) still remembers the times of high water. “When it rained heavily, we had to constantly monitor the water level in the fields. In some years, the water rose 1-1.5 meters, submerging houses all around,” Mr. Ba recounted. During the 2025 rainy season, his house collapsed. The family received 60 million VND from the government to rebuild, and the local authorities provided an additional 20 million VND to build a mezzanine. The new house has been completed, and the mezzanine serves as a shelter when the water rises. However, the scars of last year’s devastating flood have not faded. Many houses collapsed or were damaged; the belongings of many families were swept away by the water.
“The people hope the government will continue to pay attention and provide support to overcome the consequences of the floods. Here, around November and December, the sea level also rises, sometimes flooding the entire dike. Every time there is heavy rain , the people worry,” Mr. Ba said.
In Loc Thuong village, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuc (68 years old) is all too familiar with the sight of the entire village fleeing floods. However, the 2025 flood season still saddened her. According to Mrs. Phuc, about 7 out of every 10 houses were damaged. Houses had their roofs blown off, some were swept away by the water, and many families lost almost all their belongings. “Some families only had the clothes on their backs. The water rose so quickly, people had to run first, and they had to leave their belongings behind,” Mrs. Phuc recounted.
In the past, just a few days of rain would cause this area to flood. When the water level rose, boats became the common means of transportation; those living in low-lying houses sought refuge in higher ones. Floods rose quickly, and local officials had to go to each village and house to persuade residents to evacuate. Ms. Phuc recalled that before the 2025 storm and flood, provincial leaders came to the area and assigned officials to each village to encourage households living in low-lying houses to move to higher ground. In recent years, the Diem Van – Cat Tien road has been built. According to Ms. Phuc, the road has gradually become a flood barrier, contributing to reducing flooding in the area. “Without this road, just a few days of rain would cause flooding. Some years, the flooding lasted for half a month, and people in low-lying houses had to move to higher ground,” Ms. Phuc said.
Recalling previous flood seasons, Mrs. Phuc remembers the narrow roads that were insufficient to stop the water. After a few days of rain, the entire area would be covered in water. People had to roll up their trousers and find higher ground to step through the water. “Sometimes we had to take off our long pants and tie them up to our necks just to be able to walk. People jokingly called this area the ‘9 shirts, 1 pair of pants’ area because everywhere you went you had to wade through water. You had to change 9 shirts before you needed to change one pair of pants,” Mrs. Phuc recounted.
That saying sounds simple, but it encapsulates an entire flood season. After the water recedes, people clean up the mud, repair their houses, and gather whatever remains. Then another rainy season arrives, and the water returns to the familiar low-lying areas. From these experiences of fleeing floods, the need arises not only to find high ground for shelter but also to create pathways for the water to drain.
Typhoon Kalmaegi (Typhoon No. 13) and the subsequent floods in 2025 damaged or severely flooded over 100,000 houses in Gia Lai province; 560 fishing boats were damaged, and over 540 hectares of aquaculture farms and 254 cages and rafts were swept away. The total estimated damage was 11,636 billion VND. The province spent over 1,587 billion VND to mitigate the consequences and support people in restoring production.
Before the 2026 rainy season, in addition to rebuilding houses and repairing infrastructure, downstream areas must also open up waterways for water flow. The province is focusing on addressing flood drainage bottlenecks, regulating river flow, and increasing the protection of residential areas in low-lying regions.
The eastern downstream area of Gia Lai has four major river systems: Ha Thanh, Kon, La Tinh, and Lai Giang. Of these, the lower Ha Thanh River basin is identified as an area facing significant natural disaster pressure. Solutions are being implemented focusing on clearing natural waterways, improving flood drainage capacity, and managing flood storage space.
At the Cay Dua dam project in Tuy Phuoc commune, machinery is dredging the Truong Uc riverbed (a branch of the Ha Thanh river) and completing the construction. The project, with a total investment of 80 billion VND, commenced in January 2026, aiming to regulate water resources, support flood drainage, and retain water for irrigation and domestic use during the dry season.
Mr. Huynh Cong Thanh, the project commander, said that the project has currently reached about 90% completion. The spillway and other items below the flood level have been completed. Downstream, dredging has also been carried out from the base of the dam to Truong Uc Bridge, extending about 400 meters, with a volume of more than 14,000 m³ of soil, sand, and silt. The work of clearing the waterway continues on downstream branches to limit the accumulation of blockages that cause flooding.
Mr. To Tan Thi, Director of the Gia Lai Provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Project Management Board, said that the Ha Thanh River downstream dredging project focuses on clearing trees, bushes, and silt deposits at sluice gates, clearing the waterway to Thi Nai Lagoon. The project in Quy Nhon Bac and Quy Nhon Dong wards and Tuy Phuoc commune has reached approximately 85-90% completion; the remaining work is expected to be finished before the rainy season.
According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai province, the locality is implementing solutions to mitigate the risk of a recurrence of severe flooding like the one in November 2025 in the downstream area of the Ha Thanh River, in the Quy Nhon and Tuy Phuoc areas. The goal is to protect people’s lives and property. When flood levels are below alarm level 3, the locality aims to only relocate households in particularly vulnerable locations, instead of large-scale relocation. The total estimated cost is approximately 2,675 billion VND, divided into two phases.
In 2026, approximately 280 billion VND will be allocated to urgent tasks, including relocating 75 households violating the protection corridor of the Cat River dike, addressing encroachment that narrows the river flow, dredging the Truong Uc, Cat, Cay Me, and Ha Thanh river branches, and constructing the left bank dike of the Ha Thanh river branch. From 2027 to 2030, the province plans to allocate approximately 2,395 billion VND to complete the Cat River and Cay Me river dike systems and build a flood-resistant bridge on Dien Bien Phu road, replacing the existing combined traffic and spillway route.
The projects aim to increase flood drainage capacity, but their effectiveness depends on the operation process and the management of the flow and flood drainage corridors. The volume of construction or the total investment is not enough to confirm the extent of flood reduction; the results need to be verified when the rainy season arrives.
For the people of the “nine shirts, one pair of pants” region, these projects are not just about the amount of investment. They represent the hope that each rainy season, while the water still flows, there will be more drainage; that low-lying houses will have more time to relocate; and that the days spent wading through floodwaters will be reduced for generations living alongside the river.
