Impact stories

Nothing left standing

 

Peng 
Bann Phoukhoun Noi Village, Lao PDR

“It all happened so quickly. Cracks appearing everywhere. What was once home is now covered with mud and sand”

In the little commune of Phoukhoun Noi Village, located in the central-northern part of Lao, six hours away from Luang Prabang, villagers suffer from the changing weather patterns in the recent years. The high intense precipitation events have become more extreme and erratic combined with the human activities that are triggering factors to slope failures within many parts of Phoukhoun District.

Like most families, Peng’s house was built on a down slope area along the roads. Such settlements are growing due to land scarcity. “We knew our home was prone to landslides but we didn’t know where to go. We are constantly living in fear whenever there is heavy rainfall.” Peng explained.

The memory of 2018 was still fresh in her mind. “Cracks formed on the walls. Doors and windows became difficult to open. These were signs. Then it all happened so quickly”. Peng was in the house with her children when suddenly she heard a strange noise from the ground. The house was moving. Floors cracked and creeped open. It ripped our house off the foundation.

 

ASEAN DRR-CCA

ASEAN Project on Disaster Risk Reduction by Integrating Climate Change Projection into Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment (ASEAN DRR-CCA) is supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

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