Weekend downpour drenches Saigon in traffic chaos

A downpour starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday flooded many streets in the city's Tan Binh, Binh Thanh, Thu Duc and Go Vap districts, severely impeding traffic. Nhu and her child make their way home along a flooded street after she picked up her child from the kindergarten. "We're only two kilometers away from home, but the motorbike's engine shut down. It's frustrating how the streets keep being flooded like this," said Nhu.

Two motorbikes and three people get a lift on Ho Hoc Lam Street after the two-wheelers’ engines shut down. The fees for such services range from VND30,000 to VND50,000 ($1.28-2.14).

A man pushes a motorbike across a flooded street in District 11 to the city's southwest.

A bus is abandoned by its passengers after its engine got shutdown due to the rainwater on Hong Bang Street in District 6, 20 minutes drive to the west of the city's center.

A woman maroons on Hong Bang. "I work near here. This road isn't flooded often, but the rain was particularly heavy today,” she said.

A road in District 11 is scenes of chaos as vehicles try to avoid the most flooded parts.

Two people try to change lanes over the road divider to look for another way out.

Phuc, a driver, guides traffic in the pouring rain.

A man stands inside a flooded food stall.