Badly affected by flooding over the last week, people in the central Quang Binh Province are rejoicing at a saving grace: huge quantities of wood being washed down a river. 

On Saturday afternoon Nhat Le Beach in the Dong Hoi Town’s Hai Thanh Ward was littered with tree branches and logs. The floodwaters had swept the wood in from Truong Son Forest down the Kien Giang River. Some locals considered this a blessing and divided themselves into groups and got out machetes, saws and bags to collect the firewood and logs.

Nguyen Thi Tu, 56, of Quang Phu Ward ties up firewood into bundles and waits for her husband to bring a vehicle to carry them home. She was able to collect nearly a ton in just half a day.

A man uses a saw to cut a block of wood about 3 m long.

The man, along with Le Tien (L), 50, and another person manhandles the wood he has just cut off.

 Tien said: "There was no such thing happening during floods in previous years. Since the flooding is much heavier this year, lots of wood and firewood have been washed ashore. They could add up to hundreds of tons. I have collected more than three tons since this morning to sell to brick kilns for VND600,000 ($25.89) per ton."

Locals said the wood washed on to the beach is mainly termite-damaged.

Three men carry off a log.

A woman has tied firewood up into stacks and is waiting for family members to come and carry them home.

A family piles wood into a makeshift vehicle to carry home.

A group of people pile logs on a sidewalk and rent a truck to take them away. Truck drivers make around two trips a day for VND600,000 each.

Nguyen Van Suu, 53, said: "I collected six tons of wood today and sold it to paper mills for more than VND500,000 a ton. After subtracting transportation costs, I earned about VND2 million."

The beach from where people collected their "blessings" stretches over a kilometer from Quang Phu Ward to Dong Hoi Market.

Large quantities of logs and branches got stuck beneath a bridge at Nhat Le Port. Some people tried to collect them.

Since the middle of last week the entire central coast and some Central Highlands provinces have been hit by torrential rains.

In Quang Binh, more than 13,000 houses have been flooded.

Residents collect wood washed ashore at Nhat Le Beach in Quang Binh Province. 
Video by VnExpress/Duc Hung.