Many people struggled to ride through the flooded stretch at the intersection of Nguyen Thi Thap and Le Van Luong streets on their way home from work.
Many people pushed their stalled motorbikes or waded through the water carrying their children home from school.
Water spilled into roadside shops and eateries on Bui Van Ba Street. Residents said it is one of the area's worst flooding spots, regularly swamped whenever the tide runs high.
Many households in alley 136 on Bui Van Ba Street put barriers across their doors to keep the water out. Parts of the alley were flooded by about half a meter.
Le Thi Trang, 72, who lives with four relatives in an alley off Tran Nao, said her house floods deeply at every high tide. Unable to afford raising the floor, the family has lived with flooding for years.
Inside, Trang's younger brother Le Thanh Minh, who has been ill for years, lay curled up on his bed waiting for the water to recede.
The late-October tides run highest from Oct. 26 to 28, according to the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center. On Oct. 27 the water level reached 1.75 m at Nha Be station at 5 p.m., 1.71 m at Phu An at 6 p.m. and 1.86 m at Thu Dau Mot at 7 p.m., all above alert level 3, the highest. The tide is expected to ease from Oct. 28 but stay above alert level 3.