Thai Van Sang drives a motorbike up a ladder to get into his house. The ladder can be folded if he needs more space outdoor.
The house’s foundation currently stands 1.2 m above the surface of Duong Van Cam Street, making it the highest house on the street.
The 40-year-old man said the street started to be flooded in the 90s. In 2000, it was lifted, leaving houses lower than the street surface.
“My family has raised the house’s foundation three times now, with the latest one made 10 years ago. That time, we spent almost VND100 million (US$4,200)," said Sang.
Another house on Duong Van Cam Street has stayed 1 m higher than the street for two years now.
Aside from the ladder for driving motorbikes into the house, the owner has made another ladder to climb up to the house.
Next to that house, Pham Hong Dao, 66, folds the ladder in front of her house, which is now 80 cm higher than the street.
"People usually joke that this is the 'suffering street'," she said.
"Every time it rains, I have to close the door tight or else the floodwater will splash into the house when a car passes by."
However, there are poorer families that cannot afford to raise their entire house.
Their only option is to lift the façade of the house to shield the rest of it from the floods.
“The cost to raise the foundation and fix the house is too high for us,” said the owner of the house as pictured.
A boy steps over a section built to prevent floodwater from intruding into the house.
This house is rented by the family of Pham Quoc Tuan. Tuan said his family only opens the front door to sell groceries and run the laundry service. They drive their motorbikes into and out of the house via the back door, which is lower.
Loi Lien, 66, steps out of her house, which is lower than the street.
Her family has built a cement wall at the front door to prevent the floods and therefore, every time they want to get in or out of the house, they must climb over the wall.
People wade through floodwater on Duong Van Cam Street late last year.
At a conference to collect opinions on general planning for Thu Duc City last October, Nguyen Huy Dung, a senior disaster risk management specialist for the World Bank in Vietnam, said the city loses US$54 million to flooding annually, with the figure set to rise to $84 million in 2050.
The figure represents only direct damages caused by flooding and does not include damage to infrastructure and impacts on economic activities and people's livelihoods, he said.
