Flooded streets, gridlocked traffic leave Hanoi commuters stranded for hours

Several major streets, including Lang, Trung Kinh, Nguyen Trai, Tran Duy Hung and Nguyen Chi Thanh, experienced serious traffic jams.

Downpours further disrupted traffic as commuters in raincoats inched their way through flooded streets.

Anh, a resident of Hanoi, booked a ride-hailing car at 6:00 am to get to work.

Anticipating heavy rain and traffic, she had deliberately got up early.

However, the rain was so heavy that she was not able to secure a ride until 6:30 am.

Her workplace is in the Cau Giay area, requiring her to pass through Co Linh Intersection, where flooding and road narrowing caused by construction of an underpass added to the congestion.

At 8:10 am, she had still not reached her workplace.

“After passing the section, the car could only move inch by inch,” she lamented.

“It took more than 20 minutes to cover a short stretch because of the flooding and congestion caused by the narrowed road during construction.

“The streets were completely gridlocked while I was extremely tired.

“The car had been traveling for nearly two hours and I still had not reached work.”

At around 8:00 am, Dam Quang Trung and Ngoc Lam Streets remained heavily flooded, making it difficult for vehicles to pass and causing further congestion.

Widespread rain was hitting the capital by 6:00 am, triggered by a southeast wind convergence extending from the ground to an altitude of 5,000 meters that continued to affect northern Vietnam.

Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Company reported localized flooding on several streets such as Co Linh, Ngoc Lam, Phu Xa and Hoa Bang and Trieu Khuc.

Hanoi is forecast to continue experiencing rain throughout Wednesday.