On Sunday afternoon, torrential rain following an unprecedented downpour inundated many streets and paralyzed traffic in Hanoi.

According to Vnexpress, the two-hour rainfall on Sunday reached a level of 138 millimeters (mm). This exceeded the previous record of 132.5 mm reported on June 18, 1986, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.

In the same time frame, Cầu Giấy District received the most significant precipitation, over 170 mm, followed by Tây Hồ District (150 mm), Hoàng Mai District (130 mm), Ba Đình, Thanh Xuân, and Thanh Trì districts (all 100 mm).

After the massive rain, over 30 streets were severely flooded with an average depth of 40–50 cm; some parts of the city even experienced up to 80 cm of flooding. Although the rain had stopped, many roads such as Xuân Thủy, Phan Bội Châu, Hàng Cháo, Nguyễn Thái Học, Thăng Long Boulevard, and the area around the Keangnam building, etc. were still submerged, Thanh Niên reported. As a result, the downpour caused traffic chaos. Many vehicles were waterlogged, while fallen trees blocked local streets. 

Hundreds of Hanoi Sewerage Company employees were dispatched to stand guard in flooded areas to remove trash and debris from drainage openings, warn commuters and open penstocks in lakes such as Bảy Mẫu, Đầm Chuối, and Hố Mẻ to prepare for future rain.

The heavy downpour in Hanoi on Sunday was caused by a low-pressure region that also brought rain to the provinces of Sơn La and Hòa Bình. Meteorologists said that the rain would continue in mountainous and midland areas of northern Vietnam until Tuesday, with levels reaching up to 150 mm. Rain is predicted to fall from Thanh Hóa to Thừa Thiên-Huế in the central area from Monday night.

[Photo by Đan Hạ via Thanh Niên]