Hoi An ancient town covered in soft mud

After days submerged by heavy rains and hydropower dam discharges, many streets in Hoi An ancient town are now thickly covered in soft mud as floodwaters recede, prompting residents and authorities to rapidly clean up to restore tourism.

Excavators gathered mud from inner streets and pushed it towards Nguyen Phuc Chu street along the Hoai river.

Since the afternoon of 21/11, floodwaters have mostly receded from the ancient town's pedestrian streets and the residential area across the Hoai river. Flooding from the upper Thu Bon river, caused by heavy rain and hydropower dam discharges, left the ancient town covered in soft mud, necessitating a large-scale cleanup effort by authorities and residents. A section of Bach Dang street remained submerged by about 0,4 meters. Employees of Hoi An Public Works Joint Stock Company used specialized excavators and water tankers to clear the mud layer on many streets.

Floodwaters began to rise into the ancient town from 16/11. In subsequent days, Bach Dang street along the Hoai river was submerged by up to 1,5 meters at times, while many inner streets saw water levels of 0,8-1 meter.

Many businesses mobilized all their staff to clear mud inside their premises and on the streets, assisting environmental workers to quickly restore the road surfaces and resume tourism.

Soft mud covered sidewalks and roads on Bach Dang street, with the mud layer reaching about 0,2 meters thick in some areas. Despite the road not yet being fully cleared, many tourist boats continued to welcome tour groups for trips on the Hoai river.

The section of Bach Dang street from Chau Thuong Van to Chua Cau was prioritized for mud clearing immediately after the water receded to allow tourists to visit, though Hoi An ancient town has not resumed selling entrance tickets.

To facilitate rapid water drainage, environmental workers had to clear drainage inlets blocked by trash or clogged with mud.

Hoi An ancient town has not resumed selling entrance tickets, facilitating residents who are allowed to use motorbikes on pedestrian streets for cleanup efforts.

Nguyen Phuc Chu and Nguyen Hoang streets were also heavily covered in soft mud. Residents used motorbikes to move belongings across the muddy sections of road.

Despite many streets still being covered in soft mud after the flood, Hoi An ancient town continued to attract many tourists. Numerous foreigners stopped to film authorities and residents clearing mud on the streets.

Environmental workers and residents urgently cleaned the streets. A worker stated that they prioritized cleaning as the water receded.

At this location, many environmental workers were on standby, using rakes to move mud onto the sidewalks and filter out waste. The mud was then pushed into the Hoai river.

This marked the third time in just over three weeks that Hoi An streets experienced mud clearing due to flooding. Previously, heavy rain on the night of 28/10 caused severe flooding in the ancient town, with Bach Dang, Ton Nu Ngoc Hoa, and Nguyen Phuc Chu streets along the Hoai river submerged by about 2,5 meters. Inner streets like Nguyen Thai Hoc and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai were flooded by 1,5-2 meters.