Rainy Season - Things to remember

Cheers for info, this will be my first rainy season here and I'm looking forward to it in a strange kind of way ;-)

Great advice.  I'd add the following:

1.)  Watch out for downed power lines.  I've read numerous stories about people getting electrocuted by lines that were knocked down into water.

2.)  Keep your feet clean and dry.  Carry extra socks and shoes, if you can.  Be mindful of cuts and scrapes on your feet and legs.  Remember that the water on the street is mixed with sewage!  I have a friend who came within days of dying from a parasitic infection and I've heard of it happening to other expats.

and

3.)  Try to enjoy the rain.  Personally, the rain slapping me in the face, as I make my way along on my motorbike, reminds me that I'm alive!

laidbackfreak wrote:

Cheers for info, this will be my first rainy season here and I'm looking forward to it in a strange kind of way ;-)

Hi, you make me wondering what strange kind of way are you going to enjoy your rainy season here

Summer, back in my country we don't get the same kind of rain here. Mostly it's light rain and cold, damp and dreary.
Not the torrential downpours you get here.

Do the rains last long here when they come? Like does it rain all day or just short bursts but very heavy?

WideAwake wrote:

Great advice.  I'd add the following:

1.)  Watch out for downed power lines.  I've read numerous stories about people getting electrocuted by lines that were knocked down into water.

2.)  Keep your feet clean and dry.  Carry extra socks and shoes, if you can.  Be mindful of cuts and scrapes on your feet and legs.  Remember that the water on the street is mixed with sewage!  I have a friend who came within days of dying from a parasitic infection and I've heard of it happening to other expats.

and

3.)  Try to enjoy the rain.  Personally, the rain slapping me in the face, as I make my way along on my motorbike, reminds me that I'm alive!

The part about the rain slapping in your face sound funny, I thought you're Wideawake but you still need rain to wake you up?

thanks for sharing this.yes, we need to be very careful and make sure our feet are clean.i walked on floody 3/2 Street D10 last year bcoz the motorbike of my driver just stop.I have no choice but to walk and its so yucky.I can see the water is so dark.When I came home, i took shower right away, brush my legs many times.Better to be safe than sorry.
anyway, i love the rain, i welcome this as a gift as weve been feeling HOT since February.Back home, i would usually run to our balcony and dance under the rain.Would love to try it at the park here, dance like no one is watching. I love the rain bcoz its cool,i love looking at it by my window and I love it because it helps our farmers.

Raining is very interesting. But if your work often in outside, raining is big a problem. I hate some drivers made me wetter when they crossing the puddle.

Rainy Season - Flood

- I’ve just received a bursting news, the city is gonna hold a street-swimming competition this season!

- What are you talking about!?

- It’s rainy season, streets are going to turn into rivers.

Actually, the news is not that unbelievable although it isn’t true. If you has lived through at least one rainy season in this city, you will know that after the rain, how big rivers are streets turn into. Till now, it’s a great challenge for the government to change that fact, but fact is still fact, Saigon is built up on the ground of a huge swamp. Every year, new flood areas come up and I think it would help if we take a look at flood areas which are left from last year.



If you live in district 3, district 4, district 9 or Cần Giờ district, congratulation, those are non-flood district. And the rest may be affected by after-rain flood, this way or another. The most serious flood areas are Bình Thạnh district, district 8, Tân Bình district, areas close to Trần Hưng Đạo street and others suburb as South Saigon and Bình Chánh district.

So, most of the city are gone. What should we do?

- Don’t try to go out after the rain, otherwise you must sure that the route you’re about to take won’t be flooded.

- Try to keep your feet dry and clean, the water is very dirty, dark and somehow blend with garbage.

- Don’t go out in the storm if not really necessary. The trees may be break off and smash you in the head. I’ve read lots of stories about crashed car, motorcycle and there were dead. So, people, this is serious.

- Drive carefully and watch out for downed power lines. You might be electrocuted. Kind of freak, right!

- Motorcycles and cars are not designed for swimming. So, please don’t try it because we’ve already done that.

- And the last, enjoy the rain, fresh air and free time you have while waiting for the floods to go down. To Vietnamese, it’s a very good excuse to be late.

No one is going to blame you if you’re late because of the rain and flood. Really.

by Trà

http://saigonstay.wordpress.com/2011/03 … son-flood/