City steels for floods as storm wash nears

City steels for floods as storm wash nears

Death toll hits 20, more disaster areas declared

Bangkok is bracing for the after-effects of Tropical Storm Nock-ten as the Chao Phraya River is expected to rise to a high of 1.7 metres on Wednesday.

The water level stood at a peak of 1.6m in Pak Khlong Talad yesterday, said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Department of Drainage and Sewerage.

The water is expected to reach 1.7m on Wednesday afternoon during high tide, said department chief Sanya Chenimit.

However, he said the water level is manageable as flood walls erected along the river banks are 2.5m high.

The BMA has installed water pumps and placed sandbags around 27 communities outside the flood walls.

Rapid deployment, anti-flood units will be mobilised to help residents in need.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has raised the death toll from the Nock-ten-triggered floods to 20 people nationwide.

The department reported three more deaths yesterday, taking the toll to 20 in 16 provinces from the North, Northeast and the Central Plains.

One person is missing and 11 have been injured.

In Ayutthaya, rising water has threatened to topple the flood wall protecting the riverfront landmark Wat Chai Wattanaram in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district.

Noppadol Chinajit, chief of Bang Ban district, said water levels in Khlong Ban Luang and the Chao Phraya River rose by 10-20cm yesterday. The surge was prompted by an accelerated release of water by the Chao Phraya Dam in upstream Chai Nat province.

The dam was holding large amounts of water which flowed down from the flooded provinces in the upper North.

Ayutthaya governor Witthaya Phiewphong yesterday declared flood disaster zones in Bang Pa-in, Bang Sai and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya districts.

In Sena and Phak Hai districts, farmers moved their belongings onto roads to beat rapidly surging water. Some 20,000 rai of rice farms could be lost in Phak Hai district.

In Nan, soldiers worked around the clock trying to remove debris from mudslides which fell onto roads connecting six villages to the outside world in Tha Wang Pha district.

About 400 households were flooded in Song Khwer district. Some residents were stranded in their homes and soldiers brought them food and water by boat.

In Sukhothai, 56,000 people are affected by the floods in nine districts. More than 136,000 rai of farmland was destroyed.

Samrerng Iamsomboon, village head in tambon Ban Mai Sukkasem in Kong Krailat district, said he lost more than 100 rai of rice fields. He was hoping for help from the new government.

"We live in despair. I don't know if the government can help us the way they promised during the election," he said.

Another rice farmer, Panya Srising, said the harvest on his 140 rai-farm has come to just a few tonnes, down from the 100 tonnes which he can normally expect.

Sunee Srisamrit, in tambon Krai Nok of Kong Krailat district, said the government's compensation offer of a flat 600 baht per rai of flooded farmland is not enough. The farmers spent 4,000 baht per rai growing the rice.