HA TAY - More than 380 soldiers and residents of Ha Tay Province who live near the Red River took part in a flood rescue drill yesterday (12 July 2004), in preparation for the start of the rainy season next month.

As part of the exercise, the soldiers built a dyke a short distance from the riverbank. They then destroyed a section of the dyke, to practice diverting the rising water waters of the Red River away from the valuable rice paddy lands of the Red River Delta.

The Delta is home to 13.8 million people, including the four million residents of Hanoi.

As part of the exercise, the soldiers also helped residents of the provinces Son Tay township evacuate their homes, carting furniture and personal belongings away to higher ground.

The soldiers then had to mend the damaged dyke section of their makeshift dyke.

In general, everything was well prepared and as a result, the exercise was successful, said the head of the National Committee for Flood and Storm Control, Le Huy Ngo.

Major general Nguyen Huu Kham, who is the deputy chief of Staff of the Vietnamese Army, and other officials from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development took part in the exercise. - VNS