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On the morning of Nov. 20 Tram repeatedly called for help from her house on Phu Trung Street. Outside, the murky floodwaters continued to rage, completely cutting off that residential area.

Inside, the trapped individuals, who included two infants, five other young children, two elderly stroke patients, and one pregnant woman nearing delivery, were sharing the last of their instant noodles.

They had run out of clean water and there was no power. “I’ve lived half my life, and I’ve never seen Nha Trang like this before,” Tram said, her voice strained with fatigue.
Water first entered her home on Nov. 16.

During the first two floods, the water was only 12-16 inches deep, allowing her family to move the furniture and car to high spots, and temporarily stay on the second floor.

On the morning of Nov. 18 the water receded, and they quickly cleaned up the heavy silt left behind.
But that same afternoon floods came for a third time, and was much fiercer than the previous times. They only had time to grab a mini gas stove and some dry food before bolting upstairs.

That night the water submerged the entire first floor, and was estimated to be 10 feet deep.

Hearing from their balcony the desperate cries of help from neighbors living in simple houses that were submerged to the roof, Tram’s husband put on a life jacket and paddled an inflatable boat out.

He brought 31 neighbors to their house. But on the night of Nov. 19 the boat was punctured possibly by some sharp object, forcing him to halt rescue efforts. The 35 people began a desperate effort to survive on the second and third floors.

Food meant for her family of four was stretched to feed dozens. Tram prioritized boiling water to make formula for the two infants and drinks for the elderly.

The 28 adults shared raw instant noodles, a common emergency food in Vietnam, and took sips of water to sustain themselves.

When their food ran out, she went down to the first floor to rummage through the refrigerator, retrieving a few pieces of squid and dried fish that had not been washed away.

“The power has been out for four days, we have nothing left to eat, and so everyone is sharing pieces of rice paper and sips of water to keep going,” Tram recounted.

By noon on Nov. 20 the water began to recede slowly but was still rapid, making the hope of rescue teams being able to access the area increasingly slim. “We just hope to be rescued; the endurance of the elderly and children has reached its limit,” Tram said.

People in flooded areas: ‘I just hope someone sees it and comes to the rescue in time’

Residents in Nam Nha Trang Ward, Khanh Hoa Province, broke through a corrugated-iron roof and banged loudly to signal for help as 20 people became trapped on the morning of Nov. 20, 2025. Video by Bao Hoa

In Quy Nhon Bac Ward in Gia Lai Province, Nguyen Ngoc Vu, 36, and his family also went through life-and-death moments.

Having just finished clearing the mud from the previous flood, Vu and his wife were stunned to see water rush in like a river in spate on Nov. 18, submerging all their possessions.

The five family members had to move to a small mezzanine of just over 10 square meters. Early on Nov. 19 cell phone services went, causing the family to panic.

With their gas stove and food submerged, they resorted to chewing on raw rice paper.

By noon Vu broke a window, climbed onto the tin roof and pounded loudly with buckets and basins to attract attention. An hour later the entire family was rescued by boat, leaving their submerged house behind.

On Nov. 19 and 20 all rivers between Gia Lai and Khanh Hoa provinces exceeded alert level 3, the highest flood warning, in the process breaking historical records.

The natural disaster risk warning was then raised to level 4 in eastern Dak Lak. Downstream areas in the Ha Thanh River in Gia Lai experienced severe flooding, surpassing the earlier record set in 2009.

Thousands of houses were submerged up to their roofs. In Quy Nhon Bac Ward alone, 10,000 households were marooned, forcing hundreds of people to climb onto their roofs to await rescue.

Given the situation, Dak Lak authorities mobilized helicopters and drones to aid residents. Now 421 communes and wards between Hue and Dak Lak have landslide and flash flood warnings and dozens of others face the threat of deep and prolonged flooding.

In Dak Lak Nguyen Thi Hao, 45, of Dong Hoa Ward had to help her stroke-afflicted husband and 80-year-old mother climb to the loft when water from the Ba River unexpectedly rushed in on the night of Nov 20.

Surrounded by water, she quickly wrote a plea for help on a piece of cloth and hung it from the rooftop. “We just hope someone sees this and comes to rescue us; the water rose too fast for us to escape,” she said.