On the afternoon of October 30, at a press conference on the socio-economic situation in October, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction provided detailed information about the recent flooding caused by rain and high tides.
According to the Department of Construction, from October 20 to 25, the city recorded flooding in many areas such as: Vo Van Kiet - Ho Hoc Lam intersection, Pham Van Chieu, Le Duc Tho, Phan Van Hon, Song Hanh National Highway 22, Binh Quoi - Thanh Da, Tran Xuan Soan, Huynh Tan Phat, Pham Huu Lau, Le Van Luong, Dao Su Tich, Nguyen Binh, Trinh Quang Nghi, Pham The Hien...
Notably, in the Thanh Da peninsula, flooding is mainly due to low terrain, many locations of the house foundation only reach a height of 0.5 m to 1.4 m, while the peak tide reaches 1.82 m, exceeding alert level III (1.6 m).
This caused water to overflow the embankments and retaining walls, causing flooding from 40 to 100 cm deep, seriously affecting people's lives, especially households on the ground floor of Thanh Da residential area.
The Department of Construction added that the Thanh Da peninsula anti-erosion project is still in the construction phase, with some vulnerable sections not yet completed, causing tidal water to easily overflow, causing local flooding.
From August to December of the lunar calendar every year is the time when big tides appear. This year, in addition to the tidal cycle, there is also an impact of the Northeast monsoon causing the sea level to rise. When the monsoon is combined with the tide cycle, the water level measured at many stations in Ho Chi Minh City reaches 1.82 m, causing flooding in a series of low-lying areas" - a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction informed.
To cope with the upcoming high tides, the Department of Construction said that the city is implementing many urgent solutions: Strengthening maintenance, repair, and renovation of the drainage system; organizing rain duty, collecting garbage at the water intake; operating a tidal valve system and mobile pumping station to promptly drain water and reduce flooding.
Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has 388 tide-prevention valves at the discharge gates and 17 mobile pumping stations (capacity of 168 - 2,000 m3/h) operated along with 10 pumping stations, large tide control culverts such as Binh Trieu, Binh Loi, Rach Lang, Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe, Rach Ba Tieng, Phu Lam, Thanh Da, Me Coc... to help control the tide and limit flooding.
The Department of Construction coordinates with local authorities to install additional tide-prevention valves in branch culverts and residential alleys to reduce the situation of tidal water intrusion.
The Department of Construction said that it has requested investors to speed up the completion of key projects that play a big role in reducing flooding, such as: Ho Chi Minh City tidal flood resolution project (phase 1) taking into account climate change factors; Tham Luong - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len canal infrastructure construction and environmental improvement project; Xuyen Tam canal dredging, environmental improvement, infrastructure construction (from Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal to Vam Thuat river); Doi canal northern renovation project, along with flood reduction projects in Go Vap, Thao Dien - Quoc Huong and Thu Duc market area.
While waiting for the completion of major flood prevention projects, the Department of Construction recommends that people in low-lying areas with high risk of flooding should regularly monitor weather forecast information and high tides on the media to proactively respond, limit damage to people and property.
