The 4th day has passed, all the "colors" of Hoi An are submerged under the silver water, the poetic Hoai River with its brilliant lantern lights is no longer visible.
Mr. Dang Van Khanh, a boat owner who specializes in taking tourists on the Hoai River every day, was steering the boat to take us there and said: "Compared to the normal water level of the Hoai River, the current water level is more than 4 meters higher."
Noticing the customer's suspicion, Mr. Khanh took the beam, held it upright from the boat and stuck it straight into the water. The water touched his short sleeves up to his armpits but there was still nothing underneath. Mr. Khanh affirmed: "Normally, the water level of the Hoai River is 1 meter lower than the road surface, this beam is 2 meters, look at the doors of the houses on both sides!".
The ground floor roofs of the houses along the two streets, the flower trellises that usually serve as roofs are now close to the water surface, looking inside, the main doors of the houses are completely submerged in water. The world heritage, the famous port center of Asia from many centuries ago still lies quietly under the water. The flood is still strong, the motorboats still have to "scream" to overcome the strong water flows through each bend at the street name pillars. The Hoai River has left the old town behind!
Right in front of Nguyen Duy Hieu Secondary School, the poetic Phan Chau Trinh street has become a "boat dock", a gathering point for dozens of boats that do not carry passengers, but carry people from the old town to the flooded area. Mr. Nguyen Nhu Hac and his wife, on Cao Hong Lanh Street, took a boat to go home. Mr. Hac said: "My wife and I had to rent a boat to go out to buy necessities, then take the boat back home." Stranger than usual, instead of going home through the front door, he had to climb the wall and the fire escape stairs at the back to get into the house.
Ms. Pham Thi Loan, who lives on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, Cam Nam Block, said: "For the past few days, I have had to go out and live with an acquaintance in an area that is not flooded. There was a power outage and no water supply. My mother is upstairs collecting rainwater from the corrugated iron roof to drink; yesterday, the rescue team provided drinking water."
The ancient heritage town is still welcoming many foreign visitors, and life is still bustling. Ms. Dang Thi Thuy Trang, who lives in An Hoi block, Hoi An ward, also had to leave her home to go to a relative's house to avoid the flood in the past few days. She said that from the morning of October 27, the river water started to rise, flooding into people's houses. People listened to the warnings of the local authorities, using the 2017 flood mark as a benchmark. However, the flood rose so quickly that people had no time to move their belongings in their houses. By noon, a series of houses on both sides of Bach Dang and Nguyen Phuc Chu streets along the Hoai River had completely "fallen".
By the afternoon of October 27, the water level had reached the ceiling of the first floor of the houses. Houses without upper floors had to stay at other houses; most families with upper floors had to leave because they did not know how high the floodwaters would rise. Tran Phu, Le Loi, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Cong Chua Ngoc Hoa streets... were all deeply flooded; the entire Hoi An, Hoi An Tay, and Hoi An Dong wards were heavily flooded; the center of the old town was completely submerged in water. By the evening of October 29, the floodwaters had officially surpassed the record for the highest flood level in history in 1964, officially setting a new record.
However, despite the flood, Hoi An people are still optimistic, business is still going on normally and bustlingly on the streets that are not flooded; tourist boats and canoes have become a means of transport or helping each other of Hoi An people.
On the evening of October 30, many pre-packaged food packages were still being gathered at "boat docks" to be delivered to people living in flooded areas. The floodwaters were still high, but Hoi An residents were mentally prepared for the flood to recede.
"I'm used to it, almost every year we welcome floods. Although this year the floods are at a record high, they will recede, Hoi An will be bright and bustling again, welcoming tourists with the excitement of a world heritage site" - Ms. Dang Thi Thuy Trang happily said.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/hoi-an-van-ngam-minhtrong-lu-20251030194050679.htm
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