HCMC neighborhoods flooded by year's highest tides

Heavy rains Monday night and high tides Tuesday morning flooded a neighborhood on Pham Van Dong Street in Thu Duc City.

Parents bring their kids to school while wading through flooded streets.

Bui Dinh Du pushes his motorbike through the water with his son on the back after its engine stalled.

"This neighborhood has flooded regularly for over five years. Ever since Pham Van Dong Street was completed, this has become a low area. There were days with both heavy rains and high tides, causing the water to remain for several days," he said.

Many properties have been inundated.

Most homes have been elevated higher than the road, but yards and gardens can still flood.

"In the early morning when the tides peak, the flooding gets more severe, causing household items to float around. I must get out to retrieve them," a local said.

Many residents have to keep their doors shut in the hope of keeping the waters at bay.

Ly's shop has been inundated since Monday night, so the family had to stay at a hotel.

"I returned home early morning, waiting for the water to recede so I could clean things up. Every year, floods are most severe in October and November. When it rains too heavily, the entire family has to go out and find another place to stay," Ly said.

Ly's warehouse, used to store boxes of granite, is soaked in water.

A low-lying kindergarten near a river in Binh Thanh District is frequently affected by high tides.

A neighborhood on Huynh Tan Phat Street of District 7 is surrounded by water Tuesday morning.

According to the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, the tides would peak between Oct. 25 and 27, and within the day, between 5-7 a.m. and 5-7 p.m.