Many ways of flood prevention of Ho Chi Minh City residents in "flood season"

NHƯ QUỲNH | 18/11/2024 06:15

HCMC - When there is heavy rain or high tide, many households in flooded areas lose sleep and struggle to find ways to prevent flooding.

Living in an alley on Nguyen Ngoc Cung Street (District 8) for more than 20 years, Ms. Do Xuan Mai's family has witnessed countless floods due to heavy rains and high tides, water entering the house and damaging many belongings.

Ms. Mai said that every flood season, many nights the whole family has to stay up to drain water and clean the house.

Water flooded into houses, up to the knees, so some households built concrete steps and raised their belongings to limit damage.

“Last year the water broke the refrigerator, and this year the car broke, making my family extremely miserable. My family is buying a new refrigerator on installments, and we are afraid that the water will flood the house and cause more damage, so we have to build a high step to put the refrigerator on,” said Ms. Mai.

Not far away, Mr. Thanh Cong's family, knowing the time of the high tide, prepared sandbags and partitions to prevent water and garbage from flooding into the house.

“If the water is small, I use a towel to absorb the water and wring it out. If it is large, my wife and I continuously splash water. All the furniture in the house is placed high, and at night, we go upstairs to sleep,” Cong shared.

Tuy anh Cong da chuan bi cac vat dung chan nuoc nhung chua day 20 phut, nuoc da tran vao nha anh. Anh: Nhu Quynh — Although Mr. Cong had prepared water-blocking equipment, in less than 20 minutes, water flooded into his house.

Mr. Cong added that most of the people here are laborers and do not have enough money to raise their houses, so they have to live with the flooding. Only a few households have raised their foundations in the past few months, but when the tide reaches its peak, the deep flood water also splashes into their houses when cars pass by.

In addition to Nguyen Ngoc Cung Street (District 8) and neighboring alleys, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, several other streets in Ho Chi Minh City such as Phu Dinh (District 8), Dao Su Tich, Le Van Luong (Nha Be District), Huynh Tan Phat (District 7), Tran Xuan Soan (District 7), National Highway 50 (Binh Chanh District)... are also at risk of severe flooding.

Tai duong Tran Xuan Soan (Quan 7) muc nuoc len cao do trieu cuong khien hang quan khong the buon ban, hang loat xe chet may phai day bo. — On Tran Xuan Soan Street (District 7), the water level rose high due to high tide, making it impossible for shops to operate, and many motorbikes broke down and had to be pushed on foot.

Mot nguoi dan di chuyen tren le de qua doan nuoc ngap sau. — People move on the sidewalk to cross the deep flooded section.

Mot con hem o ban dao Thanh Da, gan khu vuc bi sat lo cung ngap nang do trieu cuong. — An alley in Thanh Da peninsula (Binh Thanh district), near the landslide area, was also heavily flooded due to high tide.

According to the forecast of the Southern Hydrometeorological Station on November 17, the water level at stations in the downstream area of the Saigon - Dong Nai River is likely to decrease slowly in the first 1-2 days, then decrease rapidly.

The highest tide of the day at or above alert level 1 will last until November 21. People need to be on guard against flooding that could affect their lives and society.