Hanoi: 10 miserable hours living in the flood of the "cancer neighborhood"

Hanoi : 10 miserable hours living in the flood of the "cancer neighborhood"

At 4am on August 26, hearing heavy rain outside, Ms. Lan ( Ha Nam ) was staying at alley 94 Cau Buu taking care of her child with cancer and was worried.

True to the woman's intuition, just an hour later, water began to flood into the first floor. Ms. Lan and her family members/patients in 7 adjacent rented rooms shouted to evacuate their belongings to higher ground (Photo: Thanh Dong).

The rain that lasted from the evening of August 25 caused many areas known as “cancer wards” opposite Tan Trieu K Hospital to be flooded. Notably, Cau Buu Street, right at the entrance to Tan Trieu K Hospital, was flooded 0.2-0.5m deep, greatly affecting patients (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Since early morning, many patients with scheduled check-ups, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy had to wade through knee-deep water to get to the hospital (Photo: Thanh Dong).

As a road with many means of transport, the way to the hospital for many patients is even more difficult when they have to squeeze through the dense traffic (Photo: Minh Nhat, Thanh Dong).

With poor health, many cancer patients are shaken when each wave from large vehicles such as trucks and container trucks hits them. Even with their pants rolled up to their knees, they still get soaked by the waves (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Scheduled for an examination early in the morning, Ms. H. ( Nghe An ), a cervical cancer patient, and her husband waded through water to get to the hospital at 7am. However, due to traffic jams, the doctor could not arrive on time, and Ms. H. was not examined until 10am.

"With this flood, patients and doctors are suffering, but because of the weather, we have to endure it," Ms. H. shared (Photo: Minh Nhat).

The sidewalk was flooded, the pedestrian overpass in front of the K Hospital gate became a shelter for many patients waiting for a car to pick them up after their medical examination and treatment.

However, cancer patients in wheelchairs are forced to cross flooded streets because it is difficult to move up the stairs of the overpass (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Worried about rising water and power outages, many patients and their families bought lunch early (Photo: Minh Nhat).

Anh Thu, who had nasopharyngeal cancer, was taken to the hospital for an IV at 8am. When they returned, the mother and son were shocked to see water flooding into the rented room.

“The rice cooker we just bought was left on the floor and was damaged by the flood. This afternoon, my son and I had to cook something on the gas stove. We don’t know how long this flood will last,” Thu’s mother said sadly (Photo: Thanh Dong).

The 5 square meter rented room is home to Ms. Nhan (Thai Binh), a patient with endometrial cancer, and 2 other people. The water was up to her ankles, so the woman had to stay in bed and did not dare go out for fear of getting infected when her health was very weak.

"This rain and wind is too much. Cancer patients who are already weak and have to wade in the rain and water every day can easily get sick," said Ms. Nhan (Photo: Minh Nhat).

Flood water carries waste and dirt, increasing health risks for cancer patients (Photo: Thanh Dong).

By noon, it was pouring rain again in the Tan Trieu K Hospital area. The water continued to rise, bringing suffering to the cancer wards (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Alley 95 Cau Buu is one of the deepest flooded areas in the cancer ghetto. According to a landlord, this is the worst flooding since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, in 2024, the ghetto was flooded 5 times (Photo: Thanh Dong).

The water level is about to exceed the initial estimate, many restaurants and boarding houses in the alley are calling on each other to move electrical appliances and valuable items to higher places (Photo: Minh Nhat).

A charity lunch distribution point with bread, milk and water helps share the difficulties of cancer patients in the situation of "living with the flood" (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Many patients and their families had to use rickshaw services to get to non-flooded areas (Photo: Thanh Dong).

On Cau Buu Street, the ambulance struggled to move through the water, making way through narrow sections (Photo: Thanh Dong).

According to the forecast, Hanoi may have heavy rain until the end of the night today, causing hundreds of cancer patients to worry about "living with floods" (Photo: Thanh Dong).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/ha-noi-10-tieng-khon-kho-song-trong-ngap-lut-cua-xom-ung-thu-20250826144507511.htm