At 5 a.m. Thu Huong, 34, woke up at home near Thang Long Avenue in An Khanh Commune to the sound of rain pounding against her window.

She noticed the road below her apartment was submerged under a sheet of water and there were no vehicles in sight. In her building Zalo chat group, residents shared possible routes but all turned out to be flooded.

Huong works in the Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh urban area, also where her fourth-grader son studies, six kilometers from home.

After an hour of weighing all options she let him stay home. At 7 a.m. she tried leaving home, planning to ride her motorbike in the expressway’s car lane. “I was willing to travel three kilometers more than usual,” she said.

But as she approached the expressway entrance, she saw motorbikes and cars stalled in the water and blocking a long line of traffic.

Many people turned back and gave up the idea of going to work. Huong too returned home, where her niece said after turning back on Le Trong Tan Street: “The water was too deep and traffic was stuck. There was no way to move forward.”

By 6 a.m. in Tu Liem Ward, Ngoc Nga, 37, saw a bunch of messages in her three-year-old daughter’s “parents” group. Finally 22 out of their 23 children stayed home.

Nga had no one to take care of her daughter at home, but coaxed a neighbor, who did not go for work, to do so. “I work in Hoan Kiem Ward and had some important tasks this morning, and so I had to go to the office,” she said.

Bao Quoc, 25, traveled five kilometers from Cau Giay Ward to Ba Dinh Ward to office. With no ride-hailing vehicles available, he drove his motorbike through water reaching halfway up its wheels and squeezed through small alleys around Cau Giay Park.

But by the time he reached Dao Tan Street the water was up to his knees, and dozens of vehicles had stalled. His too broke down and he had to leave it at a friend’s place on Buoi Street and continue by bicycle. “When streets turn into rivers, walking or riding a bicycle is safer,” he said.

Nearly a dozen motorbikes were lined up outside a repair shop on Dao Tan Street. Its owner, Hong Thanh said: “My phone has been ringing non-stop since early morning. A lot of people called for help because of the floods.”

Many tried to resume their trip to office after repairs, but some gave up and returned home. Storm Kajiki brought heavy rains to Hanoi on Aug. 25 and early on Aug. 26. Many places reported rainfall of 150–200 mm.

Thuong Tin received more than 160 mm in just eight hours. Nearly 40 locations were flooded and paralyzed traffic. The city drainage company has been running all pumping stations at full capacity to drain the waters. “Better to stay home today than risk wading through floodwaters and paying for vehicle repairs,” Nga, who managed to reach her office, said.

Two of her colleagues were unable to make it to office after their vehicles stalled on the road. But many people had no option but to go to work despite the flooding.

Bich Ngoc, a lecturer working in Thanh Xuan Ward, said her university held a freshman welcoming ceremony that morning, and so she was forced to take her three-year-old daughter to school in the downpour.

The trip was just over a kilometer, but the child was soaked through as were her spare clothes.

Ngoc borrowed a change of clothes for her daughter and hurried to the metro station to reach work on time. While on the train, she texted her child’s teacher, asking to borrow a diaper for her child to use at noon. “It is heartbreaking to see my child go to school in this storm.”