Flooding in Hanoi
 

I am living in Hanoi for several months and want to give you a sense of the flooding here. We have been traveling in Laos and Cambodia and returned to Hanoi yesterday.....and thought most of the flooding was remote and removed from our lives.

Well, we were very wrong. The taxi from the airport couldn't get to the building I was staying in due to the flood water in the streets. After trying several routes we finally managed to find a dry street giving us access to our home-away from home.

If you want a sense of the flooding....take a look at this website.

http://slide.legono.com/?tag=Hanoi&uid=tester

I vouch for the photos because similar types of things are happening on the campus where I am staying. The building I teach in has about 18 inches of water on the first floor. To enter you have to walk a series of elevated planks they have in place...then crawl into a window to the building. The hallway is lined with benches from the sidewalk--so you hop from bench to bench until you get to the stairs and can go up to the second floor. The smell is something I want to forget quickly!

One of my students was very apologetic in class today because she didn't have her assignment completed. She had saved for a long time to get a computer and sadly it was under her bed in her ground floor apartment when the rains started. She lost the computer, most of her clothing and all her books and personal items. She wasn't crying.....as I am sure I would have been....but rather very embarrassed that she didn't have her assignment complete. Gad, that was the last thing I would have thought about.

The local market where I buy fruits, eggs and vegetables has vanished. The area is flooded and no vendors are around. I was even surprised to see that many of the people selling foods on the streets are gone. Not sure if they can't get into town or if their supply source has "dried up" due to the difficulties.

So....just wanted to let people know that the situation in Hanoi is not good right now. Hopefully things will dry out this weekend. I feel very sad for the people because many, like my student, have lost everything they had.

Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully things will dry out by April when we are there. I am wondering however whether the flooding will affect the business of my Hanoi-based travel agency (Tonkin).

I haven't had a chance to post the Vietnam portion of our trip yet, but I am writing this now from a dry and secure suite at the Anantara Golden Triangle. We managed to get out of Hanoi on Monday for our flights here. Let me tell you, the situation was really terrible in Hanoi. We were inconvenienced but it was nothing compared to the losses that so many people suffered. Children were killed on their way to school! The markets were gone and people couldn't get food or had to pay astronomical prices. We hope things will be back to normal soon.

Thanks fro a repot "on the ground" in Hanoi. We kept seeing the photos of the flooding in Hanoi while we were in Bangkok - it really looked awful. I'm glad you are safe and sound.

Am due to arrive in Hanoi on Thursday November 13. Hopefully the weather will be better, since I don't have an alternate plan.

Do you need anything, am in China right now? Let me know if there is anything that woul be helpful.

Water seems to be lowering and things are returning to normal in my area of town. We still are not seeing the food markets up and running. I am hoping that this will change this coming weekend when hopefully the weather will be improving.

We are fine--and appreciate your offer to help out. We don't need anything....and hopefully by next week things will return to "normal".

My Buddhist husband always reminds me that "normal" is nothing more than a setting on a dryer...so I do hate to use that term!

Please keep us posted. We depart Shanghai and arrive in Hanoi on November 20. I am now trying to decide whether we should go elsewhere. Any thoughts?

Keep your plans. Things seem to be straightening out now.

We are heading out of Hanoi for a "day trip" today and this should give me an indication of how the roads are in areas outside of Hanoi. I will try to post something when we return.

Thanks gailmo.
I read something online today about potential trouble with rivers and reservoirs overflowing or breaking the dikes etc. that could make things worse. Any word on that being resolved?

There is also a tropical storm in the South China Sea that is expected to impact Vietnam early next week (as of now, central/southern VN). Those traveling to the region should monitor the situation.

This weekend has been wonderful blue skies and not one drop of rain! Lets hope it stays like this.

Any local news on the effect on disease and mosquitoes from the standing water?
We have a trip planned in two weeks as well so trying to weigh the risks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/wo...08vietnam.html

Thanks

I spent all day Saturday traveling village to village in Bach Ninh providence - northeast of Hanoi. Folks--the weather right now is absolutely PERFECT! Sunny skies....cool breezes...low humidity! Wow, what a change from previous weeks.

The countryside shows the effects of the flooding. The rice fields are brown. No sign of fruits and vegetables--although I did snag a papaya for 20,000 dong at a temple we visited. People seem to be doing fine, but you can see the impacts of the flooding.

When we returned home (Hanoi- Cau Giay district) we were walking through a small alley nearby. I saw a women washing dirt and muck off a beautiful set of living room furniture. I stopped and talked to her and learned that she had 1.4 meters of water in her living room. As she talked to me in halting English, her eyes filled with tears and she turned away. It really was very sad. The local officials brought a big ol' truck to the area later that night and they were sucking the remaining water out of the streets. So things seem to be clearing up although the people are still cleaning up their homes.

As someone mentioned, a typhoon was lurking off the coast of Vietnam the past several days. I check the "Typhoon in Asia" website and now see that it is being downgraded and they think it will dissipate in the next 24 hours. I hope so...because my husband and I have booked a two day trip to Halong Bay this weekend. I would be pretty sad to be rocking and rolling on a junk in nasty weather.

I have found a few mosquitoes --but am not too worried because we are still taking our drugs from our trip to Laos and Cambodia. Extra insurance in case any problems arise here. I monitor Vietnam.net (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/) daily and they have had some reports of Cholera and other diseases surfacing. But those have occurred in the rural areas. Hanoi seems fine now....so no need to alter any plans at this point.

Thank you gailmo. I don't know Hanoi well so I don't know if you are staying in the tourist areas.
Can you walk around most of the tourist areas now w/o trudging through water?
Is there visible evidence of trash or sewerage in tourist areas? Can you smell sewerage in the tourist areas?

Regarding mosquitos, would they be malaria mosquitos in Hanoi? I thought it was not a malaria zone.

We will keep watching info reports but I really do appreciate your updates. Please keep them coming. Thank you.

Malaria shouldn't be an issue in Hanoi, but Dengue Fever is.

I am not living in the Old Quarter...or the tourist area. But my husband and I did take the bus there yesterday and walked everywhere. No sign of water, trash or sewage. Everything seems pretty normal again. I did read today that people living in the flood areas will be getting free typhoid and cholera vaccines. But again, everything seems fine --so keep your plans and I hope you enjoy Hanoi.

By the way....the weather lately has been spectacular. Cool and not a cloud in the sky. High temps in the mid- upper 70's and lows in the 60's. Can't get much better than this!

Thanks gail...please keep updating if things change for the worse. We are planning to go to Hanoi now and will watch the weather and your posts as we travel to see if anything changes.
Thanks again. You eased my mind.

Am in Hanoi now and the weather is lovely. Rain is predicted for next week 20 - 60% chance depending on the day. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...Select=WEATHER

Enjoy your trip.