Categories
Thailand

Floods hit central and northeast Thailand

2010-10-20_thailand_floods.jpg

AFP yesterday: Flash floods kill seven in Thailand

The worst floods in decades in Thailand’s rural northeast have killed at least seven people and damaged homes, businesses and swathes of farmland, officials said Tuesday.

In worst-hit Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand’s biggest province, three people died and thousands of homes were flooded along with a hospital, which has been forced to evacuate patients in critical condition.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said twice as much rain had fallen compared with last year in the mountainous province about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Bangkok.

“It’s the worst flood in 40 to 50 years in Nakhon Ratchasima,” he said.

Today’s Bangkok Post: Floods threaten six provinces:

Six Central Plains provinces have been placed on high alert against heavy flooding expected to be triggered by overflows from the North.

Provinces most vulnerable to the deluge are Sing Buri, Chai Nat, Ang Thong, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi, Royal Irrigation Department spokesman Boonsanong Suchatpong said yesterday.

The six provinces would be unable to avoid flooding as a vast amount of water from the North and from Pasak Jolasit Dam in Lop Buri was approaching.

The department is trying to drain as much water as possible from the Chao Phraya River basin before Saturday, when the sea water level will begin to rise because of king tides.

Reuters/AlterNet: Severe floods hit Thailand, crop damage limited

Flooding in Thailand has caused only slight damage to the rice and sugar crops, officials said on Tuesday, and while rubber output is currently restricted by rain, that is normal for this time of the year.

Flash floods in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province have killed four people since Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the worst flooding in decades in the province and at least 2,000 families have been evacuated to higher ground, provincial Governor Rapi Pongboopakit said.

(Emphasis mine.)

Map: Bangkok Post. More images from the Post are here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *