Downtown Can Tho submerged in high tide

Many parts of Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, O Mon and Cai Rang districts have been flooded from 7 a.m. Friday.

Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, the arterial road of Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho’s heart, was inundated in 30-40 centimeters of floodwaters.

It was not until 9 a.m. that the water subsided, leaving traffic in chaos.

Nguyen Quy Ninh, office chief of Can Tho’s Commanding Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, said the flooding situation did not cause any damage to local farms and property.

Tides have risen on Thursday and Friday on the Hau River, which runs through the Mekong Delta’s capital city Can Tho, with water rising to 1.9 meters and two meters respectively.

Phan Thanh Hai, director of Can Tho’s Hydro-Meteorological Station, said high tides on the Hau River has been “abnormal” in recent days and that it is possible that Storm Noru’s impact is the reason.

The Can Tho ODA Project Management Board proposed in early September a project of VND320 billion ($13.4 million) to upgrade the drainage system in Can Tho to mitigate urban flooding in the city.

The proposal said the project will be carried out from now until mid-2024 to renovate the sewage system in Ninh Kieu District, and build two pumping stations.

The project is a package that belongs to a master plan to develop Can Tho’s infrastructure and strengthen the city’s ability to respond to climate change that cost VND9.2 trillion, including loans from the World Bank, non-refundable aid from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and counterpart Vietnamese capital.

Can Tho covers 1,140 square kilometers, with a population of 1.2 million.

More than half the city has often suffered from flooding during heavy rains and high tides, especially the downtown area.

The Research Institute for Climate Change under Can Tho University has stated that Can Tho is subsiding by two to three centimeters a year. Among the reasons are the overexploitation of groundwater and rapid urbanization.