Saigon’s current flooding map is due for some updates as the unpredictable effects of climate change have both created new “flood hubs” and dried up old ones.
According to Do Tan Long, head of the Water Drainage Management Division under the Ho Chi Minh City Anti-Flood Program, fewer locations were flooded by 2016’s early rains than in previous years, reports VietnamNet. However, Long warned the news outlet about the possibility of heavy rainfall of over 100 millimeters, which has potential to cause large-scale flooding.
So far this year, there have been 11 instances of heavy rain, inundating 16 roads in the city, including flooding hotspots such as Nguyen Xi, Xa Lo Ha Noi, Nguyen Huu Canh, Quoc Huong and Kinh Duong Vuong.
The threat of flooding has caused city officials to employ any measures they can to alleviate the problem, from building brick walls in front of people’s houses to purchasing mobile flood pumps.
Last month, municipal authorities commenced a US$441 million anti-flooding project which, once finished, will enable the city to control high-tide water levels via floodgates as well as through the use of a 7.8-kilometer embankment along the Saigon River.
The project aims to improve flooding over an area of 570 square kilometers, affecting 6.5 million people residing west of the Saigon River and throughout the city center.
