30 hours of isolation in the heart of Hanoi floods

At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, floodwater submerged Phu Do Street in Tu Liem Ward.

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.

"My husband and I could not evacuate in time. We grabbed some clothes, food and electronics, and rushed upstairs," she says. They had to leave the refrigerator, gas stove and washing machine in the water.

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.

Tra My stands in front of her house in alley 8, lane 236, Phu Do Street, Tu Liem Ward, Hanoi, on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by VnExpress/Nga Thanh

Pham Huu Ngan, 38, and his family of four spent 30 hours inside a 20-square-meter rented room on the same lane.

After tap water was cut, his family had to buy 20-liter water bottles for VND18,000 (US$0.7) each.

He says: "We tried to use as little water as possible and still had to use two bottles a day. They were just enough to make porridge and bathe the children. My wife and I boiled water to cook instant noodles."

Several families in the neighborhood used their mini gas stove since their induction cooktops were of no use after the power was cut.

At night Ngan and his wife took turns fanning their two children to sleep.

Household waste was wrapped in plastic bags and left on the balcony until the water receded.

Residents in Lane 236, Phu Do Street, Tu Liem Ward, Hanoi, buys bottled water for daily use. Photo by VnExpress/Nga Thanh

Flooding also hit Trieu Khuc Village in Thanh Liet Ward. For two days the stretch from lane 97 to the end of the street was submerged with the water rising to over a meter in some places.

Trieu Hai Linh, 57, left a high-capacity pump running throughout Wednesday outside his house on lane 111. He had raised his ground floor level by 60 cm and installed steel panels to block water but the water still poured in.

He stayed awake through the night and checked the water level every half hour.

He says: "I have never seen the water rise this fast and this high. This is worse than the flood in 2008."

On social media, photos showed residents in Phu Do and Trieu Khuc stranded in their homes.

Vehicles had stalled in the floodwaters and so residents used foam rafts to move around. Many streets were under 1-1.3 meters of water.

Trieu Hai Linh, 57, sets up a 60 cm water barrier to block flooding at his house on lane 111, Trieu Khuc Street, Thanh Liet Ward, Hanoi, on the evening of Oct. 1, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Nga Thanh

Ngo Van Ky, head of residential group No. 2 in Phu Do, says more than half the 500 households in the area were affected by the flood, and 100 were completely isolated.

"Electricity has been cut for 300 households. The neighborhood’s pumping system was overloaded. Ten small pumps died and only three large pumps ran at reduced capacity.

"We requested emergency supply of clean water and food for the marooned households."

Prolonged flooding also hit other wards like Xuan Phuong, Phu Dien and Dong Ngac.

 

 

30 hours of isolation in the heart of Hanoi floods

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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.

Ngan took his motorbike to a repair shop after it was under water for nearly two days.

He says: "If I leave my motorbike in the water any longer, the damage will be worse. I may still have a chance to save it now."