VNExpress-Oct 5
Torrential rain caused by Typhoon Bualoi on Tuesday flooded residential areas in Hanoi and left hundreds of families stranded without electricity and safe water. Tra My, 30, thought the water would not enter the house and raised her furniture by 50 cm. But within just two hours the water rose to waist level and submerged about one third of the ground floor’s height. Electricity was cut in the afternoon. Their two children, aged eight and six, were staying with relatives while the adults took refuge on the second floor. The alley outside their house turned into a chest-high river littered with floating trash. People stayed indoors to avoid slipping or contracting skin problems from the dirty water. My’s husband collected water from their tank on the first floor for drinking and cooking. They used the floodwaters to flush the toilet. By Wednesday afternoon, after 30 hours of flooding, the water had dropped by about 10 cm. My fetched the gas stove from the first floor to cook instant noodles after eating dry rations for nearly two days. Pham Huu Ngan, 38, and his family of four spent 30 hours inside a 20-square-meter rented room on the same lane. The Hanoi Drainage Company said as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday the city had 11 flooded locations, all outside the To Lich River basin and without a functioning drainage network. It said Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da, and Hai Ba Trung were the only wards with a functional drainage system. Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Nam Tu Liem, and Ha Dong wards lacked a flood basin to drain the water and efficient pumping stations. Read more at:
