Every Rain Turns into an "Oasis"
Standing in front of the small flooded alley, Ms. Hoang Thi Huong (Viet Hung ward, Long Bien district, Hanoi) reluctantly took out her phone to call her husband, asking him to bring a pair of boots to the alley entrance. The heavy rain on July 23rd caused severe flooding in her alley, with water levels rising to 50-65cm in some parts. "This is not the first time my alley has been flooded this deeply," Ms. Huong said.
That evening, Ms. Huong left her motorbike at a friend's house at the alley entrance, then wore boots and waded through the water to get home. The next morning, the water had not receded, so she waded out to the alley entrance to get her bike and go to the market to buy food for the family. That day, her child had to take a day off from school, and her husband took a day off work to look after the child and clean up the flooded kitchen area.
Meanwhile, Ms. Huong's neighbor, Mrs. Pham Thi Ngan, couldn't sleep all night because water had flooded into her house. "At 3 AM, I felt wet on my back and woke up. By then, the house was already flooded. That night, my husband, three children, and I took turns scooping out water," Mrs. Ngan recounted.
Mrs. Ngan said that from previous rain experiences, her family always "built a dam" in front of the house to prevent flooding whenever it rained. However, the heavy rain on the night of July 23rd and early morning of July 24th caused some sandbags to burst, and water seeped through cracks in the house walls, leading to the entire house being flooded.
The rain on July 23-24 also disrupted the lives of many residents in An Khanh, Hoai Duc. Mr. Tran Van Nguyen, a resident of Gemek Tower apartment, likened his place to an "oasis" whenever there was heavy rain.
Mr. Nguyen said that on the afternoon of July 23rd, it took him 3 hours to travel from his company in Cau Giay to his home. When he got near the apartment building, it was heavily flooded, so he had to park his car by the roadside and wade nearly 1km home. The next morning, he woke up early to wade through the water to go to work, not forgetting to pack an extra set of clothes in his backpack in case he got wet.
According to the Hanoi Department of Transport, there are currently 30 "black spots" in the city that flood whenever it rains, leading to traffic congestion and affecting residents' daily lives. These flood-prone areas include Nguyen Khuyen Street (in front of Ly Thuong Kiet School), Hoa Bang Street, the intersection of Phan Boi Chau - Ly Thuong Kiet, Minh Khai Street (under Vinh Tuy Bridge), Thang Long Boulevard (the intersection of Le Trong Tan Street, underpasses 3, 5, 6 km9+656, An Khanh interchange)...
A representative from Hanoi Drainage One Member Limited Liability Company said that these flood-prone areas often have low-lying terrain, far from discharge points, and can only handle moderate rainfall.
Special Policies to Address Flooding Issues
Dr. Architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, Vice President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, said the primary reason the capital "floods whenever it rains" is due to the drainage system of sewers and canals. According to the experience of other countries in flood prevention, 3-5% of the land area should be used for water regulation lakes, but Hanoi currently has only about 2% (equivalent to 6,000 hectares of lakes). Hanoi has many canal systems, but many are filled in and not fully utilized.
"Hanoi is divided into three drainage areas: North Hanoi, Left Bank of Day River, and Right Bank of Day River. However, the pumping stations to locally drain water, intermediate stations to transfer to the final station, have not been completed. The final stations also do not have enough capacity to drain all the water. Notably, many pumping stations have not been built," analyzed the Vice President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association.
Dr. Nghiem also noted that Hanoi has not yet regulated the flow of the Red River, Day River, Lu River, and Nhue River. "The river systems must ensure water drainage, but currently, we still have blockages in the rivers," Dr. Nghiem said.
Regarding solutions, Dr. Nghiem suggested that it is necessary to quickly adjust the drainage projects that have been implemented. Because the forecasted rainfall was only about 310mm, but now it has reached 400mm. Additionally, regular maintenance and repair of the sewer, canal, and ditch systems are needed, and policies should be in place to comprehensively study the river systems flowing through Hanoi.
Hanoi is currently implementing several projects, such as the drainage system, water regulation lakes, Vinh Thanh drainage pumping station (Dong Anh district); upgrading and constructing Phuong Trach pumping station (Dong Anh district); improving the drainage system in the western area at Yen Nghia drainage pumping station (Ha Dong district). Along with that, a series of projects are being prepared for investment, such as the rainwater drainage system in the left bank of Nhue River, the drainage system in Ha Dong district in the right bank of Nhue River, Gia Thuong pumping station, water regulation lakes, and Thuong Thanh canal (Long Bien district)...
Additionally, three drainage projects managed by the Long Bien District People's Committee include the construction of Viet Hung - Cau Bay canal and Cu Khoi water regulation lake; the construction of Cu Khoi pumping station and the discharge canal outside the left bank of the Red River; the construction of Long Bien - Cu Khoi drainage sewer have all been approved by the city People's Committee for investment and urged for progress.
Solutions to Prolonged Flooding in Western Hanoi
According to a representative from Hanoi Drainage One Member Limited Liability Company, the reason for prolonged flooding in the western areas of the capital is because these are low-lying areas compared to the surroundings, with lower ground levels, so when it rains heavily, water flows along the roads and quickly accumulates, causing localized flooding.
Moreover, the drainage system operates on the principle of gravity flow, but the main pumping stations have not been fully and synchronously constructed according to the plan, so the drainage to the discharge points is still limited.
Mr. Trinh Ngoc Son, Deputy General Director of Hanoi Drainage One Member Limited Liability Company, said that to address this situation, the unit will initially coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nhue River Irrigation Company to agree on a coordination process in controlling the water level of Nhue River, creating favorable conditions for the drainage of the basin into Nhue River; closely coordinate with investors whose projects affect the drainage system, agree on flow diversion plans, coordinate in monitoring, clearing, and breaking temporary dams when it rains.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Chin, Head of the Water Resources Engineering Department, Thuy Loi University, the main reason for prolonged flooding in many places in Hanoi is primarily due to the rapid urbanization rate, increasing the proportion of concrete surfaces on roads, and canalization of ditches.
Additionally, filling in natural reservoirs to use the land for construction without paying attention to developing the drainage system is also a reason for the current situation of flooding whenever it rains.
"To minimize flooding, urban planning must ensure drainage. Recently, we have only focused on urban construction, while the drainage and water conduction systems for the entire large area have not been given much attention, leading to the recent consequences.
To address flooding in already built urban areas, I think a unit needs to comprehensively and specifically calculate for each area, then propose overall solutions for the entire city of Hanoi in general and specific solutions for each area, proposing the most fundamental and methodical drainage solutions for each project," Associate Professor Dr. Le Van Chin suggested.
