In early August, in Phu Luong village, Quang Chinh commune, Nguyen Van Vuong took a saw to his peach orchard to cut down the withered, lifeless trees. His orchard of over 200 trees, cultivated for 3-4 years and intended for the upcoming Lunar New Year, now has only a few trees left, showing signs of yellowing leaves and little chance of recovery. "Years of work have gone to waste," he said, estimating the damage at around 300 million VND (approximately 12,700 USD).

Not far away, Nguyen Van Quyet was hiring workers to collect and burn the dead peach trees. His orchard of over 600 trees is now bare after being submerged for days. He said the flood caused his family a loss of over one billion VND (approximately 42,300 USD).

Nearly 40 hectares of peach blossoms in Quang Chinh commune withered after Typhoon Wipha. Photo: Le Hoang

Nearly 40 hectares of peach blossoms in Quang Chinh commune withered after Typhoon Wipha. Photo: Le Hoang

The family hardest hit in Phu Luong village is Nguyen Van Thuc, who received 250 ancient peach trees at the beginning of the year for caretaking, at a price of 2.5 million VND (approximately 106 USD) per tree, with a commitment to have them bloom beautifully for Tet. But the prolonged flooding after heavy rains in late July caused all the trees to become waterlogged, their roots rotting, and gradually dying. "I hired a dozen pumps to drain the water, but it wasn't fast enough. In just a few hours, the fields were completely flooded, and there was nothing I could do," he recounted. In addition to the consigned trees, Thuc also lost 500 trees he had grown himself.

Dealing with the owners of the trees is also causing Thuc anxiety, as many of the ancient peach trees are worth tens of millions of VND. "If they demand a full refund, my family will struggle to manage," he said.

According to Quang Chinh residents, in over 30 years of growing peach blossoms, they have never witnessed such deep and prolonged flooding. Continuous heavy rain for three days at the end of July caused water levels to rise, compounded by the closure of anti-saltwater dikes due to high tides, preventing drainage in the entire area.

Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, head of Thanh Xuan village, lost over 200 peach trees after the flood in late July. Photo: Le Hoang

Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, head of Thanh Xuan village, lost over 200 peach trees after the flood in late July. Photo: Le Hoang

Nguyen Van Hung, Vice Chairman of the Quang Chinh Commune People's Committee (CPC), said the entire commune has about 60 hectares of peach blossoms, concentrated in Phu Luong, Thanh Xuan, and Chinh Da villages. Nearly 40 hectares, over 67% of the total area, have been destroyed. The estimated damage is hundreds of billions of VND.

The main cause is determined to be the low-lying terrain, with water from the Ly and Hoang rivers overflowing, combined with heavy rain, causing the entire peach growing area to be submerged for an extended period, preventing the trees from recovering.

The commune authorities are assessing the damage and proposing provincial support with seedlings, fertilizers, and preferential credit to help farmers restore production. In the long term, the commune plans to invest in a drainage system to minimize damage during future floods.

Quang Chinh is a famous peach blossom growing region in Thanh Hoa. The peach blossoms here are favored by the northern market during Tet for their vibrant and long-lasting color and strong branches. According to Hung, this year's crop failure not only leaves the people with nothing but also disrupts the Tet flower supply chain in the region.

Earlier, Typhoon Wipha made landfall in the Hung Yen - Ninh Binh area at noon on 22/7, causing prolonged heavy rain in Thanh Hoa. Dozens of low-lying residential areas were flooded, and many roads became rivers. Nearly 25,000 hectares of rice, vegetables, and crops across the province were flooded or damaged. 10 sections of dikes in Hoang Hoa, Tho Xuan districts, and Bim Son town were eroded. Several national highways, such as 15, 15C, 16, and 47, also suffered landslides. The pumping station of the Mat Son water plant was flooded, leaving 40,000 households without water. Most of the damage to transportation and irrigation has now been repaired.

Le Hoang