VietNamNet Bridge – Only one downpour can submerge many places in HCM City, especially the areas where especially the areas with anti-flood projects going on or being completed. If a downpour occurs at the same time with flood tide, the city will be quickly paralysed.

A shower and flood tide in the afternoon of October 10 made 40 areas in HCM City flooded, causing gridlocks for 5-6 hours. Some areas where anti-flood projects had just been completed were also submerged.

“I thought that we would not be flooded after a new sewer was built but I was wrong. A rain can cause a serious flood. Whenever it rains, I’m very anxious. Wherever I am, I have to quickly return home to move the furniture,” said Mrs. Hoa, who lives on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh road.

A flood prevention project has been carried out on Nguyen Thi Thap road, District 7 but since this project finished, more than 1,000 families in this area have suffered more from flood. As the road was lifted, a thousand houses are 0.5 to 1m lower than the road. Whenever it rains, these houses are all flooded.

“After the flood prevention project was implemented, my family has to evacuate very often when it rains,” complained a local resident.

Other roads with flood prevention projects are also submerged in rain and flood tide, such as Tran Hung Dao – Chau Van Liem (District 5), An Duong Vuong (District 6), Cay Go (District 11), Au Co (Tan Phu), Phan Dinh Giot, etc.

Do Tan Long, chief of HCM City Centre Against Flood, said there are 272 places of floor-risk in the city, 20 points more than last year. Some roads suffer from more serious flood.

According to Long, contractors of anti-flood projects only pay attention to sewers belonging to their projects and they didn’t link the new sewers with the old drainage system. Some contractors filled up old sewers, causing flood.

Some big flood prevention projects are carried out slowly, for instance the Ben Nghe-Tau Hu and Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal dredging projects.

Long hopes that some roads will not be flooded next month, when flood prevention projects finished.

PV