Residents in many areas in Ho Chi Minh City have been troubled by the flooding caused by the rise of the Saigon River in the past several days. Hundreds of families have been evacuated.  Beginning to rise on Tuesday, the rising river has submerged streets and residential areas in various districts, especially in Districts 2 and 8 and Thu Duc, Go Vap, and Nha Be Districts, affecting the daily lives of locals, breaking down vehicles, and blocking traffic. On Wednesday the rising waters from the river broke a section of the embankment at Cau Lan canal, making way for floodwater to flow into residential areas in Thu Duc’s Hiep Binh Chanh Ward. About 10 hectares of land in the ward has been seriously flooded and about 200 houses have been affected, according to a report from local authorities.

Three locals in Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, Thu Duc District are moving a scooter in a heavily submerged area (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Many areas in the ward were submerged under 1-1.5 meters of floodwater, and hundreds of families had to be evacuated to safe places. More than 50 workers were sent to the scene to rebuild the broken embankment, while police were deployed to ensure order and security in the area.Four more high tides The river level peaked at 1.62 meters on Thursday morning, 0.6 meters lower than the height recorded on October 20, which was the highest in 61 years, as reported by the Southern Hydro-meteorological Station. By yesterday noon, December 5, hundreds of houses in Hiep Binh Chanh remained heavily inundated.

A man in Thu Duc is sitting on a plastic stool waiting for the floodwater to recede (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

In this area, the power supply was cut off, the traffic was blocked and many residents had to travel in small boats on streets that were turned into rivers. At 5:30 am this morning the river level receded to 1.57 meters and is forecasted to continue to go down to 1.53 meters by 7:30 pm and will keep receding in days to come, the Station said. From now to Tet (lunar New Year), which falls on January 31, 2014, there may be four more high water levels on the Saigon river, with the highest potentially reaching over 1.5 meters, the Station warned.