Confessions of a female reporter working in the flood zone

Send the child to grandparents to work in the flood zone

On July 23, 2018, the auxiliary dam D of the Xepian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project (in Attapeu province, Laos) collapsed, releasing billions of cubic meters of water downstream and causing great damage.

At that time, after receiving the information, female journalist Bui Thi Ngan, from the magazine Life and Law, Central office, immediately took her child to her grandparents' house to prepare to go to work. As a resident reporter in the Central region, every year she has to "shoulder" the burden of drought and floods, female reporter Bui Ngan has always been mentally prepared whenever a natural disaster strikes the area.

The dam failure swept away nearly 2,000 houses and many properties.

However, this time, the hydroelectric dam broke in neighboring Laos, about 1,000km away. The already difficult road is now even more difficult, many places are cut off, so this business trip will take longer than before. "Every time I go to work at the "flood center", the thing I worry about most is leaving my child behind. I love my child so much, but it's my job so I have to try my best!...", the female reporter confided.

That said, getting to the disaster site was already a difficult task for male reporters, but for female reporters, the hardships and difficulties were multiplied. There were stretches of road where female reporters had to carry cameras and video cameras, roll up their pants and wade through mud and floodwaters up to their waists. Houses collapsed, dead pigs, chickens, cows... floated on the water, an unprecedented scene of devastation was before their eyes.

Wading through floodwaters, amidst wind and rain, the first images of the terrible damage caused by the dam break were quickly sent back to the editorial office by the female reporter. All of those articles and reports caused strong emotions, touching the hearts of millions of readers...

In addition to recording the scene, journalists from Life and Law Magazine also assisted the victims to safety.

“Many days later, my colleagues and I went deep into the scene of the dam break. The rescued victims were all suffering from hunger and cold due to being isolated on the mountain, having to live “under the open sky”. At that time, we - journalists understood that our mission was to have the most authentic images and accurate information to “depict” the pain that people in the flood-affected areas were suffering, and to send them to readers, so that the whole country could share with them”, the female reporter recalled.

The tragic images of the people occupied the female reporter's mind. Therefore, despite being tired, she always told herself to try harder, to contribute a small part to help the people.

Share the difficulties with people in flood areas

As the first person to be present at the epicenter of the flash flood in the mountainous district of Ky Son, Nghe An province in the early morning of October 2, 2022, and even witnessing the flood that devastated the village with her own eyes, journalist Ho Thi Lai, from the Education and Times newspaper, a resident reporter in Nghe An, still feels haunted.

Flash flood at dawn in Ky Son district.

At that time, Ms. Lai was on a business trip in Ky Son district. Early in the morning, while she was sleeping, she heard a loud scream. When she woke up, the flood water rushed in and swept away everything that was blocking her way. The water flowed so fast that everyone shouted to each other to find a way to escape. “Near noon, the water receded, leaving thousands of tons of mud up to my knees, so I started wading into the village that was most devastated by the flood to work. At first, I was a bit scared because I was traveling alone, and I was a girl, and my colleagues would definitely arrive in the evening. I didn’t know if there would be another flash flood,… However, I thought that I would go as far as I could, so I tried,” Ms. Ho Lai said.

Having lived in an area where natural disasters often occur for nearly 15 years, journalist Ho Thi Lai understands that working in dangerous areas requires working in a group to support each other. In particular, if there is support from functional forces such as the army, police, etc., working together will be safer. “I was working in the middle of a flood, unlike my usual work, so I had to move alone. At that time, I didn't have time to prepare anything, so in addition to using a camera to take pictures, using a smartphone to work helped me a lot, and it was also highly effective,” she shared.

Wanting to send news and images to the agency as soon as possible despite the lack of working conditions, female reporter Ho Lai recorded short scenes to send to her colleagues at the agency in time to edit. Although the images were not sharp, the footage she captured helped readers better understand what was happening in a mountainous commune isolated by floods.

Present from the time of the flash flood, female reporter Ho Lai alone went into the flood to work at the scene.

As for female reporter Hoang Hoa Le, Central Highlands Representative Board, People's Army Newspaper, residing in Nghe An, the motivation to overcome all difficulties and dangers while working in the flooded area is the bewildered eyes, pleading for help of people in distress. When all their life savings are swept away by the floodwaters in just a moment.

Therefore, immediately after receiving the information, female reporter Hoang Hoa Le had to take her child to her grandparents' house to immediately go to work. Female reporter Hoa Le's situation is a bit special, when her husband works far from home, she is the only one taking care of her young child. Therefore, she always wants to spend all her time with her child, making up for her father's absence. However, because she lives in the largest area in the country with 3/4 of the area being mountainous, this female reporter's business trips often have to last several days.

In addition to updating news quickly and accurately about the newsroom, the biggest concern for field reporters is to convey valuable messages about the losses and pain that people in the flood-hit areas are suffering. There is no greater joy than when each of their articles becomes a bridge for readers to share with people, helping them to quickly overcome the disaster. "It is even more heartwarming when the photos and videos we took after being published in the newspaper connect with many charity groups. This has given us more strength to love our jobs and be more passionate and dedicated," said reporter Hoa Le.

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/tam-su-cua-nu-phong-vien-xong-pha-tac-nghiep-noi-ron-lu-a668871.html