Province faced with threat of inundation

By THE NATION

 

Pumps work hard to drain water from Kaeng Krachan Dam in Phetchaburi province yesterday as the reservoir is close to overflowing.

 

Phetchaburi will be submerged as Kaeng Krachan dam on brink of overflowing.

 

PHETCHABURI province faced the prospect of being submerged under 25 to 30 centimetres of water tonight as the Kaeng Krachan Dam reached 97 per cent capacity. 

 

 

Located in Phetchaburi, some 9.31 million cubic metres of water is being discharged from the dam daily towards downstream zones such as the Muang and Ban Lat districts. 

 

However, relevant authorities are taking steps to ease the impact. The Royal Thai Navy is dispatching 20 boats to facilitate water flow from the areas via the Phetchaburi River. 

 

 

Some 450 soldiers have also been mobilised to help people living alongside the river to move their belongings to higher ground. 

Sandbags have also been piled up as a precaution. 

 

A round-the-clock flood-relief centre has been set up in the Phetchaburi Provincial Hall to deliver timely help. 

 

 

Since Saturday, locals in Phetchaburi’s Kaeng Krachan, Tha Yant, Ban Lat, Muang and Ban Laem districts have been bracing for possible floods. Authorities have asked them to move their belongings to at least 50 centimetres above ground level. 

 

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit the province tomorrow, a source said. 

 

According to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, sea levels will also rise between Thursday and Saturday. Phetchaburi is a coastal province. 

 

Worrying levels at dams

 

Royal Irrigation Department deputy director-general Thaweesak Thanadachophol said water in several dams had already reached worrying levels. 

 

“We need to pay close attention to dams that are over 80 per cent full,” he said. 

 

 

The department’s website shows four dams were almost brimming yesterday. 

 

Apart from the Kaeng Krachan, the other three dams are Nam Oun in Sakon Nakhon province, as well as Vajiralongkorn and Srinakharin dams in Kanchanaburi province.

 

The Nam Oun Dam was full to 101 per cent of its holding capacity, while water levels at Vajiralongkorn and Srinakharin dams stood at 84 and 86 per cent respectively. 

 

Deputy Prime Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said that he had instructed the Royal Irrigation Department to install more pipes to siphon water away so the impact on downstream residents is minimal. 

 

“We will try to divert some water into canals to drain into the sea, instead of the Phetchaburi River,” he said. 

 

 

Officials have lately dredged a canal in Ban Laem district that links up with the river to help drain excessive water into the sea faster to minimise impact on the city area, he said.

 

Chatchai also said that floods in several provinces along the swelling Mekong River had started receding though some low-lying riverside areas remained submerged. 

 

He also warned that storm-hit China and Laos might send runoffs along the Mekong towards Thailand. 

 

He said the Royal Irrigation Department’s Smart Water Operation Centre was monitoring the situation round the clock and would bring any problems that may arise to his attention immediately. 

 

He said the authorities had been releasing water from dams since the start of the rainy season as per the “Rule Curve” principle, which ensures that dams have enough water for a drought but do not overflow during the monsoon.

 

However, the case of Kaeng Krachan Dam is unusual because up to 120 million cubic metres of water had poured into it in a single day, forcing the urgent release of water.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30351584

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-08-07

36 minutes ago, webfact said:

Phetchaburi will be submerged as Kaeng Krachan dam on brink of overflowing.

That´s impossible! They´ve said that won´t happen already.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Deputy Prime Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said that he had instructed the Royal Irrigation Department to install more pipes to siphon water away

who would have thought of that............genius.......why not dig a deep  hole next  to send the water down..........or  put a  fence round it so you cant see it

24 minutes ago, Get Real said:

That´s impossible! They´ve said that won´t happen already.

NO, they said  "flooding", thats different to "submerging" and hence why they needed to use  billions to buy submarines

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Smart Water Operation Centre

Let's throw a dart at a map again to see if another location for a dam could be identified.

The best thing regarding everything connected to this, is that they yesterday go out with that there is no way the dam is going to flood the area.
Today they have a super emergency to keep it from doing just that.

It´s very nice of them to give they residents false imformation as long as possible, instead of helping them to salvage what they can and leave in time. I am sure that the residents are very greateful to the authorities regarding that matter.

What a bunch of morons these 'leaders' are. Every year - EVERY year - there are problems with flooding. It's not as though this comes out of the blue as a complete shock and surprise. But these idiots act as though it were something totally new and unforeseen - and desperately start scrambling to do something to salvage the situation when it is already too late. Come on men, get the boats ready with their propellers and engines running - to 'push out' the water into the sea -  wonderful strategy ...

 

Absolute idiots!

yesterday they said there will be no flooding in Phetchaburi. Today the opposite.

So far to the credibility of those leaders.

A country with leaders like that does not need enemies

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit the province tomorrow,

So no problem then.  Superman is on the case.

Water management as hot potato: the need of the farmers vs entire cities. The governments need the votes of the first and largest group.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit the province tomorrow, a source said. 

Here he is visiting the province.......

38 minutes ago, mikebell said:

So no problem then.  Superman is on the case.

Oh boy, close the roads for the super VIP entourage to pass, that'll fix it! 

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

So no problem then.  Superman is on the case.

and following on behind him , just in case will be a lowloader with a sub .

" What we want is Chinese submarines , Chinese submarines , Chinese submarines , and our friends ( Prawit , BJ ) are all aboard ".

I do sometimes wonder if they can get anything right here,at the moment i am leaning toward thinking no they can't,but as my wife says 'don't think too much' and that attitude is very much the crux of the problem.

Something fundamentally flawed about the way and where these Dams were sited in the first place.  Not enough foresight by the planners about how much water they would have to hold and for how long etc.   Probably the usual approach to almost everything here; it's all about how much dosh can be siphoned off the project and not about proper planning for the future.

1 hour ago, marko kok prong said:

I do sometimes wonder if they can get anything right here,at the moment i am leaning toward thinking no they can't,but as my wife says 'don't think too much' and that attitude is very much the crux of the problem.

Along with the 'Face' problem, the 'don't think too much' mindset is another reminder that Thailand will struggle for at least another Century to climb out of the Third World !

That looks like an earthbank dam so my thoughts are any overflow at the top is very likely to start cutting its own channel in the dam. If that starts then I have no idea how it could be stopped.

As I admit I'm no expert on dams and those are just my thoughts. 

Water is the expert at finding any weak spots.

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

That looks like an earthbank dam so my thoughts are any overflow at the top is very likely to start cutting its own channel in the dam. If that starts then I have no idea how it could be stopped.

As I admit I'm no expert on dams and those are just my thoughts. 

Water is the expert at finding any weak spots.

If true, sounds very alarming. Anybody there have information on this? Reminds me of the coverage of the 2017 Orville dam spillway problem, which fortunately ended well but caused great concern at the time.

 

9 hours ago, Get Real said:

The best thing regarding everything connected to this, is that they yesterday go out with that there is no way the dam is going to flood the area.
Today they have a super emergency to keep it from doing just that.

It´s very nice of them to give they residents false imformation as long as possible, instead of helping them to salvage what they can and leave in time. I am sure that the residents are very greateful to the authorities regarding that matter.

I seen the same problems in 2011.. giving out false information to save face.. result many stranded in the village here. Flooding is bad.. but its even worse when the goverment lies about it and you have no chance to save your stuff. 

So....will anyone in the "free press" of Thailand go up to Prayut and ask him about the BS he spouted a few days ago, about "no flood"?

And would any of the "but...but...Yingluk"- crowd please tell me. how THIS is better than her handling of the flood of 2012?

These clowns had YET ANOTHER YEAR to come up with a sensible plan NOT to flood the whole country and the best they have are boats, pushing the water?

By the way: the same exact BS the Yingluk- government came up with!

 

This country is @#$%^&* unbe- @#$%^&*- lievable!

38 minutes ago, robblok said:

I seen the same problems in 2011.. giving out false information to save face.. result many stranded in the village here. Flooding is bad.. but its even worse when the goverment lies about it and you have no chance to save your stuff. 

Right, I just want to add that it is not worse, it is not bad. It´s pure evil, but they just don´t get it.

3 hours ago, Get Real said:

Right, I just want to add that it is not worse, it is not bad. It´s pure evil, but they just don´t get it.

I agree, because of the previous goverment I had to stay in a flooded village for more then a month. I could get out.. but my dogs could not (not at that time they only transported humans out not dogs). So I stayed to care for them. I had electricity but there was 20 cm water in the first floor of my house. around a meter of water in the streets. It was bad. Many people lost their cars here..they trusted the goverment. Now this goverment is doing the exact same thing. So it really does not matter who is in power they will lie about flooding to safe face.. but by doing so they increase the damage to peoples belongings. 

21 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Along with the 'Face' problem, the 'don't think too much' mindset is another reminder that Thailand will struggle for at least another Century to climb out of the Third World !

Add "my pen rai" an openly racist mindset ,ie - Falang, or Niko, having to eat 5 times a day, mostly everything half assed,from wiring,plumbing building, appaling driving ,a disregard for almost any rules and corruption ,i think your timeline of a century maybe a little optomistic Trainman.