Songkhla closes 62 schools amid floods

Songkhla closes 62 schools amid floods

By The Nation

A TOTAL of 62 schools in Songkhla’s seven districts around Songkhla Lake will remain closed until the floodwaters recede, authorities said yesterday.

Authorities said 62 out of 86 schools in Ranot, Krasae Sin, Sathing Phra, Singha Nakhon, Khuan Niang, Bang Klam and Hat Yai were closed yesterday and would remain closed until the situation improved. 

They said the flooding around Songkhla Lake had been the worst since 2005.

Floodwaters kept rising yesterday as canals continued to feed excess water into the lake.

Several thousand people in Trang lost their water supply yesterday after the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) pumping station was flooded and shut down.

Authorities had been trying since Sunday to reinforce the flood levees around the Thachin PWA office in Kantang district but eventually failed to stem the rising levels of the River Trang. 

The water pumping station, the well for storing and trapping water residue and the entire compound were flooded. PWA office manager Prempiti Kantapiti said suspension of the water supply would affect 3,000 students, lecturers and teachers at the Prince of Songkhla University campus as well as 9,000 local families.

Floodwater levels were dropping in several areas of Narathiwat yesterday after two days without rain, but the situation remained unchanged in other southern provinces. 

Residents along the Sungai Kolok, Bang Nara and Sai Buri rivers in Narathiwat worked together to clean their homes. 

Teachers and students at Ban Kae Mae School in Rangae district started cleaning up, preparing for classes to resume tomorrow. The flooding forced 58 schools in the province to cancel classes last week, but many are now expected to reopen tomorrow. 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30333194

 

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