Saigon got hit by it’s third deluge of the week. This downpour was a shocker. I gone up to my office for about 30 minutes and return downstairs to see a “lake” on campus. Roughly about a feet of water covered school grounds. My IT assistant got my motorbike but I decided it was not worth trying to keep my shoes dry. They would get wet later anyway.
Since I knew Nguyen Huu Canh in front of The Manor would be underwater, I decided to head down Tran Nao and then Luong Dinh Cua finally crossing the Saigon River over the Cau Thu Thiem bridge. Nguyen Huu Canh was okay near this bridge and the traffic quite smooth until you hit Ton Tuc Thang in District 1. It was backed up there, all the motorbikes had to ride on the sidewalk. I had to use Le Duan as a detour for the traffic. My normal 20 minute commute took 40 minutes due to the rainstorm today.
I look at this flooding in Saigon, and that flooding in Manila in 2009, and sadly, it’s something that will continue unless better drainage is implemented. Torrential rain is endemic to the region, so cities in Asia have to be able to move water out quickly or else have flooding. The denser the city is, usually the worse the flooding is, because there’s more concrete and asphalt and less natural runoff areas.
Tokyo gets around this with the G-CANS.
http://atlasobscura.com/place/g-cans-worlds-largest-drain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Area_Outer_Underground_Discharge_Channel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/missioncontrol/sets/72157594197258304/