At 3 PM on 2/10, seeing the sun fade and dark clouds gather, Ngan Ha, 27, residing in Tan Binh ward, messaged her supervisor to request leaving work two hours early. She aimed to avoid a repeat of the previous evening's incident where she fell off her motorbike and needed help to push it through hip-deep water.

"Rain and high tides are not uncommon in Ho Chi Minh City, but this is the first time I have seen such deep flooding. In the past two weeks, I have had to take my motorbike for repairs three times after riding through flooded areas and stalling," Ha said.

Ha's workplace is on Bach Dang street (Binh Thanh ward), and her home is on Phan Huy Ich street (Tan Binh ward). Her daily commute, which typically takes about 60 minutes, passes through the Phan Huy Ich - Truong Chinh - T3 - Cong Hoa - Phan Dang Luu - Bach Dang routes. Heavy rains on the afternoons of 30/9 and 1/10 caused Phan Huy Ich street to flood over one meter deep, extending her travel time to nearly three hours. With deep water, she had to turn off her engine and push her motorbike along the road's edge to avoid deeper areas. Around her, numerous motorbikes and automobiles lay stranded due to stalled engines. On both previous days, she returned home completely soaked.

Learning from experience, Ha plans to request working online for half a day if her supervisor does not approve her early departure, to avoid getting caught in dense traffic.

Motorbikes stalled due to flooding on Phan Huy Ich street, evening of 30/9. Photo: Thanh Tung

Unlike Ha, Minh Duy, 34, a sales employee at a company in Xuan Hoa ward, proactively rescheduled all his client appointments to the morning. His two partners for the afternoon of 2/10 agreed to change their schedules upon learning about the weather conditions. He also requested a half-day leave from his manager to return home early.

This decision stemmed from Duy's past experience of being stranded on Nguyen Van Huong street (An Khanh ward). On that occasion, his motorbike stalled, and he had to push it, weaving through a stream of automobiles, costing him 1,4 million VND in repairs. Two days later, the motorbike broke down again after wading through water, incurring an additional 650,000 VND. "Two repairs cost too much money, so now I am afraid," Duy stated.

From a management perspective, Hong Nhung, head of department at an overseas study consulting company in Ho Chi Minh City, noted that on 2/10, many employees living in low-lying areas proactively requested to leave early. She informed her staff that they could leave 1-2 hours earlier or work online in the afternoon, provided that their work responsibilities were met.

Nguyen Van Khoi street (Thong Tay Hoi ward), about 300 meters flooded wheel-deep on the evening of 1/10, making travel difficult for residents. Photo: Quynh Tran

According to the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Station, storm clouds continue to bring moisture from the sea, causing moderate to heavy rain in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of 2/10, impeding traffic. The flooding situation is expected to decrease in area and depth compared to the previous two days. Tran Van Hung, Deputy Director of the Station, reported that a low-pressure trough is tending to intensify into a tropical convergence zone, leading to increased rainfall on 5-6/10.

Instead of seeking to leave early, some office workers choose to stay late at the office. After reading the weather forecast on the afternoon of 2/10, My Ngoc, 31, invited eight colleagues from her department to stay and play badminton and have dinner at the office. They planned to depart after 9 PM to ensure they would avoid traffic jams.

Ngoc recounted that on the evening of 1/10, she left her company on Nguyen Gia Tri street, Thanh My Tay ward, to go home to No Trang Long (Binh Thanh district). Her 10-kilometer commute, which usually takes 40 minutes, stretched to over 2,5 hours. "Instead of driving into a sea of water, we chose to stay to ensure our safety," Ngoc explained.

Quynh Ngan