Rains Cause More Damage In The North

[george]

Rains cause more damage in the North

Heavy downpours in the North and Northeast yesterday flooded Phayao’s Dok Kham Tai district, put Chiang Mai’s 500 villages at risk of flash flooding, and damaged 300 rai of farmland in Phrae, while roads in Nong Bua Lamphu, Yasothon and Roi Et were inundated, government officials said.

A tropical cyclone and a trough of low pressure caused heavy rain in the North. At 6am yesterday three tambons of Phayao’s Dok Kham Tai district were under 30-50 cm of water.

“I woke up at 6am and within 5 minutes flood hit us so hard that my iron gate and concrete walls were swept away. I’ve never seen anything like this in 20 years,” said Duangdeun Kayankai, 40, a villager in Tambon Huay Lan, Dok Kham Tai district.

A 4-metre crack was also found on the district’s 2-kilometre-long dam which is threatening to drown the whole tambon if the rain continued, said another villager , Pornchai Insuwan, 46.

A budget of Bt500,000 was set to help those affected by the flood, said Phayao Governor Bovorn Rattanaprasit. No reports of casualties had been received.

On Sunday, a flash flood in Chiang Mai’s Fang district killed a man and destroyed four houses and 1,000 rai of farmland.

Chumpon Intatep, a provincial disaster prevention and mitigation official, said the province would give the dead man’s family Bt30,000, while Bt20,000 compensation would be paid for each house that was destroyed.

In Phrae, the Mae Herm River overflowed onto 300 rai in Sung Men district.

“The Mae Herm River flooded rice fields where villagers had just finished planting paddy seedlings,” local official Samai Saithong said. “We had already put down 200 sandbags to reinforce the banks but it was not enough. The only way [to stop the flooding] is to have a reservoir which we propose to the province and waterworks every year.”

In Muang Nong Bua Lamphu, three days of heavy rains flooded main roads and a hundred houses in the city.Governor Jareuk Parinyapol ordered road digging to drain the water.

Amnat Charoen and Roi Et faced a similar fate of flash floods disrupting main roads.

Yasothon’s disaster prevention and mitigation chief Prapat Chusin said about 100 houses in Pa Tiu district were flooded and the province had sent two boats to help. Prapat said the province had prepared 20 boats and relief items to help those affected by flash floods.

Floods also swept Nakhon Phanom’s Na Kae and That Phanom districts and about 50,000 rai of farmland was thought to be damaged, a provincial disaster official, Nuchit Athitsopa, said. However no farmers had yet reported any damage. Na Kae’s main road was also under 50-cm of water.

Nuchit said the province had received Bt50 million from Ministry of Finance to help flood victims.

-- The Nation 2004-07-27

[Totster]

I was speaking to my GF who lives in Kalasin today, she told me that it hadn't stopped raining for over 12 hours, everyone was in a panic about the Rice Plants.

totster