Flood tide in Ho Chi Minh City on December 4 rose to 1.68 metres, only one month and a half after first hitting this record level on October 21.

The tide broke a section of embankment in Hiep Binh Chanh ward, Thu Duc district, submerging hundreds of houses under 1 metre of water. On 10 pm the same day, local residents were forced to evacuate as the flood did not recede.

According to the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Centre, the flood tide level in HCM City will remain above 1.6m on December 5-6 before receding in the next days.

Many areas in the city are likely to be severely flooded.

The municipal Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control has asked local authorities to promptly reinforce dykes, instruct citizens with measures to cope with the inundation.

Flood tide in Ho Chi Minh City usually reaches its crest in November and December. Damage caused by flooding in the city is said to be around 5 trillion VND (238 million USD) each year.

The World Bank (WB) is considering providing 660 million USD for the city to address flooding in Tham Luong-Ben Cat area.

The bank earlier funded a similar project in the Nhieu Loc–Thi Nghe area. Another one at Tan Hoa–Lo Gom is scheduled to be completed in 2014.-VNA