Tourists Evacuate As Flash Floods Hit Mae Hong Son

[george]

Villagers, tourists seek high ground as flash floods hit Mae Hong Son villages

MAE HONG SON: -- Heavy rain has hit this northern province today and last night, forcing some 300 families and an unspecified number of foreign tourists to evacuate to higher ground for safety.

Two villages in Pai district were hit by flash floods after a heavy downpour began falling yesterday evening and continued through the night. By 7.30am today the total rainfall in the area was measured at 74.2 millimeters, according to an official at the Meteorological Department in the province.

Villagers were forced to leave their homes immediately and went to stay on higher ground. Foreign tourists at several guesthouses panicked upon seeing the flood and also sought higher ground.

Roads in Pai district are now under some one metre of water, making them impossible for cars, while a highway between the provincial seat and the district town was cut by strong waterflows.

Mae Hong Son Governor Supote Laowansiri has ordered provincial officials to provide help and evacuate people at risk to safer areas. Relevant government units were instructed to assist people living in both villages.

Officials are now helping foreign tourists who have fled to higher ground as they believe that water level in Pai stream would rise further today.

The meteorological department has issued a continued storm warning that continued heavy downpours are expected in the North today.

No casualties have been reported so far.

--TNA 2005-08-13

[george]

NORTHERN FLOODING: Deluge wreaks havoc, claims 2 lives

PAI: -- Downpours force thousands to abandon homes; Pai under one metre of water. Torrential rains over the last two days caused flooding in the northern provinces of Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Mae Hong Son and Phayao, according to the Meteorological Department.

Officials in Mae Hong Son said two men were killed by the flooding but had no further details.

In Chiang Rai, where the storm was centred, heavy rains beginning on Friday night caused widespread flooding. Some 700 houses were flooded, while main roads in seven villages were submerged, and three bridges were washed out. The rainfall was measured at 500 millimetres, and the floodwaters were 30 to 50 centimetres deep.

In Chiang Mai, flash-floods inundated about 3,000 houses yesterday. In Chiang Dao district, heavy rain began falling at 5.30am. Some 2,000 homes were flooded in the five tambons of Tungkaophong, Muang-na, Muang-ngay, Muang-kong and Pingkong, where frightened villagers fled their homes. Officers of the Meteorological Department brought some stranded families to safety.

Rescue units rushed to evacuate people from affected villages in San Sai and Phrao districts. Torrential rains also trapped motorists in their vehicles on the Chiang Mai-Fang road.

Saichon Kadphet, a local official of the Meteorological Department, said the heaviest rainfall in Chiang Dao district had been measured at 200.3 millimetres.

Water levels in the region are still gradually increasing because of water flowing from higher elevations.

Flooding damaged farmland and rice fields in Wang Nua district, Lampang.

In Phayao, flood water averaged 30 centimetres yesterday. Seven districts and two sub-districts were submerged.

Overnight rain in the province damaged large areas of farmland. Villagers cannot travel from one district to another.

The intersection of Pramong and Nongrabu roads in Muang Phayao district was flooded, and water started to pour into buildings at the Srikomkam and Phrachaotonleung temples. Many motorcycle accidents were reported yesterday.

More than 80 per cent of Dok Kham Tai district was flooded. Water from the Yom River overflowed in many tambons, especially in Naprang, which is the worst affected area in Phayao.

Noppadol Rattanasuwan, a Phayao Disaster Prevention and Mitigation official, said the province was checking and estimating the damage. Everything will be fine if heavy rain does not return, because the water level is decreasing, he said.

Heavy rain hit Mae Hong Son province at 7am yesterday. Villagers and tourists fled their houses and guest houses seeking higher ground.

About 300 houses were damaged.

Pai district was submerged under one metre of water. Rushing water and a landslide cut Highway 1095 between Mae Hong Son and Pai. Officials ordered villagers living along the Pai River to move to higher ground because they believed that the water level would continue to rise.

The flooding in Mae Hong Son killed two men, but no tourists have been reported injured or missing. Officers are searching for three missing villagers.

--The Nation 2005-08-14

[george]

Flash floods wreak havoc in North

At least five injured, five reported missing

NORTHERN THAILAND: -- At least five villagers were injured and five others are reported missing in widespread flash floods that hit the North early yesterday, authorities said.

The pre-dawn floods, triggered by a heavy downpour, wrought havoc in parts of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Mae Hong Son, with reports of mudslides in some places. Hundreds of families were affected and thousands of rai of farmland were inundated.

Chiang Dao was the hardest-hit area in Chiang Mai as several roads were cut off by floods. Traffic on a road linking Chiang Mai and Chiang Dao was paralysed after police closed a 200m submerged section. The water level was still rising at press time.

Military and police helicopters rescued villagers who fled the floods and evacuated people to higher ground.

Heavy rain burst the banks of the Ping river, uprooted trees and caused landslides. In some areas, the flood water was up to a metre deep.

Five injured villagers in the district were admitted to hospital.

In Mae Hong Son's Pai district, five people were swept away by floods.

In Phayao, several areas in Muang, Dok Kham Tai, Chun and Chiang Kham districts were badly affected by flash floods and water run-off.

The local weather office said the heavy downpour, which started late on Friday night, was caused by a low-pressure ridge.

The northern weather forecast bureau urged people in the North to stay on alert. Flash floods devastated Mae Suai, Phan, and Wiang Pa Pao districts in Chiang Rai, leaving villages and farmland under water. There were no reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, a military development unit in charge of a scheme to tackle flooding in the south and west of Chiang Mai municipal area, said the municipal area was likely to be spared from floods.

Huay Kaew road and the area south of Chiang Mai airport were usually inundated by run-off from Doi Suthep in heavy downpours, said Air Vice Marshal Theerachart Palakul, head of the unit.

However, he said the areas would be kept free of floods this year now that the unit and the Irrigation Department, with a fund of 258 million baht, had built a 10km drainage network and installed six water pumps which channel water into the Ping and subsidiary rivers.

--Bangkok Post 2005-08-14

[Sojourner]

Saraphi lowlands along the Ping are flooded but the roads are still accessable. In Chiang Mai the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road in front of the TOT office, Rimping Market, area has knee deep water. The areas near Floral condominum are flooded. In the six years that I've lived here this is the worst. I would guess that another 30cm and the Warorot Market will start taking water.

[Scott]

Really sad for the folks up there. Too bad about 3/4's of that rain didn't hit Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard.