Hanoians recall 'one of worst days' as floods strand thousands across the capital

She and her motorbike could neither reach office nor return home on Trieu Khuc Street amid deep waters. "The office was less than a kilometer away but I could not move," the 32-year-old said.

The water had stalled a number of motorbikes, cars and even trucks. She had to walk her vehicle to a bus stop near the My Dinh Aquatic Sports Center on Le Duc Tho Street to shelter. Over a dozen others were stranded there, and none had food or water from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some tried calling rescue services but no one responded.

Ha tried to walk through the water several times but was knocked down by the waves. "I never thought I would face such a situation in the middle of a modern city," she said.

A colleague came around to help in the evening, and she did not reach home until 8 p.m. "It was one of the most terrible days of my life."

Floodwaters stall vehicles on Nguyen Huy Tuong Street, Hanoi, and force people to walk their motorbikes through the water on the evening of Sept. 30, 2025. Photo by Hoang Giang

Downpours starting early Tuesday morning flooded many streets and brought traffic to a standstill. In the evening many families could not pick up their children. Some schools provided dinner and let students stay overnight.

Some companies bought dinner for employees who had to spend the night in office. Pham Hai, 31, a kindergarten teacher in Ba Dinh Ward, chose to stay overnight at her school. "Some people tried to leave but the streets were so flooded they had to return to school," she said.

That night nearly 20 teachers and students stayed on and slept in classrooms and asked a restaurant across the street to cook dinner.

Residents at Hai’s apartment building in Dong Ngac Ward put up barriers to prevent the water from flooding their complex on Sept. 30, 2025. Photo courtesy of Pham Hai

Hai’s family in Dong Ngac Ward was separated by the flooding despite living only seven kilometers apart.

At noon she asked her husband to pick up their daughter from school and take her to her brother’s house on Vo Chi Cong Street, where they planned to meet in the evening.

But at 8 p.m. she was still stuck in office. "We live in the capital city but our family is separated like we are in some remote area," she said.

In the afternoon many people walked home from work as their vehicles could not go through the flooded streets. By 4 p.m. the Hanoi Drainage Company reported flooding in 82 spots.

Tran Tuan Dung, 38, said he spent four hours wading through more than seven kilometers of floods from his office on Nguyen Trai Street to Cau Giay Ward. "I have never seen Hanoi this badly flooded. This may even be worse than the historic 2008 flood."