Afternoon downpour creates chaos  in downtown HCMC

A downpour that lasted about two hours Thursday afternoon left many downtown areas in HCMC and Thu Duc City heavily flooded, severely impeding traffic reported VN Express.

Several District 1 streets including Bui Vien, Cong Quynh and Le Lai were flooded, as were major ones like Le Loi Street.

The water entered stores and shops on Bui Vien Street, Saigon's famous backpackers venue packed with bars and beer shops.

In Thu Duc City, the rain flooded several streets including To Ngoc Van and Quoc Huong.

There were places where the water was so deep that it covered almost the entire wheel of a motorbike.

Many motorbikes stalled in the water and people were forced to look for repair shops.

A convenience store on Quoc Huong Street in Thu Duc was flooded, damaging goods on lower shelves.

People had no choice but to wade through thigh-deep dirty water and push trash and debris to the side so the water could be drained faster.

Since it rained during rush hour, traffic was paralyzed in many areas. Many HCMC streets experienced rainfall of 50 mm at around 4 p.m.

Thursday, according to the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center. Heavy rain combined with rising tides flooded many streets.

The municipal Department of Transport has said the city has 48 streets/roads that are flood-prone during rain and rising tides.

The flooding gets severe when it rains heavily in a short time and inefficient sewer systems worsen the problem.

Hanoi also suffered severe flooding at the weekend as well.

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