Chiang Mai Flooded, Train Services Halted

[webfact]

Bodies of all five missing in Chiang Mai's Mae Taeng flood rampage recovered; Ping River overflows, floods Chiang Mai municipality /MCOT

[Paagai]

The town as a whole does NOT flood. I will be downtown having beers there tonight.

Quite a cavaliar attitude and inacurate. This is 2005 and nothing to say it can't happen again. Perhaps you haven't been here long enough.

To be fair to Winnie he said "the town as a whole". As I recall in 2005 it was only the area around the Night Bazzar and along the river that flooded badly, enought to be a major problem, but that's only a small area of the whole town. Other areas, e.g. in the old city, Suteph, Chang Puek etc were largely dry.

[jeanelie]

Chiang Mai looks like it'll flood imminently. Debris stacking up against bridge, water getting through sandbags along bank /via@Francis_Wade

I think text like this is inaccurate and unhelpful.

A couple roads near the river may flood today; big deal. Unless you live exactly in that area the only thing you may notice is some traffic jams in some (avoidable) areas.

The town as a whole does NOT flood. I will be downtown having beers there tonight.

In 1995 the flooding water went over the Mae Ping bridge. In Chan Klan area the water was at certain points 1.50 meter high. Don't be to sure about the water not reaching town.

Sorry for my misinformation: This happened in july 1994. Chidren had lots of fun in the streets with small boats, tourists were transferred from their hotel by boat. Houses and cars were severely inundated.

[webfact]

Section of railway track in Nakhon Sawan under floodwater, Bangkok, Chiang Mai bound services suspended /MCOT

[chiangmaicharlies]

Shallow water just beginning to progress down Loi Kroh from river end. Rim Ping supermarket getting wet.

[FalangBaa]

Shallow water just beginning to progress down Loi Kroh from river end. Rim Ping supermarket getting wet.

That'll teach 'em for building it on the rim of the Ping.

[Ricardo]

PTIS had closed for the day, due to the local river rising, and the possibility of the main access-road being closed, if waters rose any higher. Parents were warned by SMS and email about 07.30.

[webfact]

Four dead, one missing in Thai mudslide

BANGKOK, September 28, 2011 (AFP) - At least four people were killed when a mudslide swept away houses in a village in northern Thailand, raising the death toll from two months of flooding to 173, the government said Wednesday.

The victims, who included a nine-year-old girl, were members of the same family whose house was destroyed in the flash floods late on Tuesday, an official at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

Another man in the same village in Chiang Mai province was missing after the incident, which destroyed several other homes.

The floods, which began in the north, have hit 57 of Thailand's 77 provinces, with 21 still waterlogged.

More than 18,000 houses have been at least partially damaged and several million acres of farmland have been inundated.

Almost 10,000 roads and 595 bridges have been damaged and more than 13.5 million cattle and poultry are reported to have died in this year's monsoon rains, which officials have described as particularly severe.

At least four Bangkok-Chiang Mai trains were cancelled on Wednesday because the track was under water, according to the State Railway of Thailand.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-09-28

[webfact]

PM Closely Monitoring Flood Crisis

The prime minister chairs a meeting with disaster monitoring centers across the country and urges cooperation from all relevant agencies in solving the flood crisis.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over a meeting via video conference with officials of the Emergency Operations Center for Flood, Storm and Landslide at the Interior Ministry's headquarters.

Yingluck ordered relevant agencies to cooperate with one another in solving the flood crisis as well as instructed Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit to allocate responsibilities to all units and report back to the flood war room at Government House.

The premier went on to say that the flooding in Chiang Mai, Lop Buri and Ayutthaya remains critical and ordered the Royal Irrigation, Water Resources and Meteorological departments to work together in forecasting the weather, assessing water levels and using the available disaster warning systems to warn locals in all flood-prone areas.

The prime minister also vowed that the government will speed up aid and rehabilitation efforts after the flooding recedes as many farmers and local residents have been severely impacted by the recent round of inundation.

Yingluck said she has instructed all related agencies to visit disaster-hit areas to repair damaged infrastructure as well as roads and bridges, which have been damaged by the deluge.

Moreover, the government will provide aid to flood-hit locals by helping them rebuild their houses.

Provincial governors have been ordered to visit flooded areas under their jurisdiction and report the situation back to the disaster monitoring center in Bangkok.

-- Tan Network 2011-09-28

[bigbamboo]

The rain has started falling again here in CM. It's looking ominous I'm sorry to say.

[Mitker]

Is it flooding in Hang dong too? Just like to know if I can go home (Bor Sang) today.

I'm just back from driving Hangdong-Sansai (close to Doi Saket)-Hangdong.

Nothing particular. Used 2nd superhighway (with tunnels).

[george]

Chiang Mai Lamphun road between the Holiday inn (Nong Hoi) and Narawat bridge is now under water.

The rain has started again so its going to get worse.

Source: Thaivisa Chiang Mai Forum

[anselpixel]

Wednesday afternoon at four, looking east from my balcony. The rain started about twenty minutes later. I had been on my way to see how things looked along the river, but decided a bicycle might not be the best way to tour today.

Pardon the faux panorama. I don't know how to do a real one.

[jdinasia]

The rain has started falling again here in CM. It's looking ominous I'm sorry to say.

Coming down pretty hard here! I am about to make a 7-11 run for basics! This isn't fun!

[MamaSan]

Action shots from the Night Bazaar

[chiangmaicharlies]

Certainly no rain yet at Loi Kroh and the Iron Bridge, though the sky looks full of it in places. Water now approaching Pantip Plaza along Chang Klan and crossing it at the Burger King intersection to approach Duangtowan. Much traffic now turning back at this intersection. Anybody want a photo?

[george]

Certainly no rain yet at Loi Kroh and the Iron Bridge, though the sky looks full of it in places. Water now approaching Pantip Plaza along Chang Klan and crossing it at the Burger King intersection to approach Duangtowan. Much traffic now turning back at this intersection. Anybody want a photo?

Yes, photos please

Cheers

[Kered]

Does anyone have any information regarding the state of the main road from Bangkok to Chiang Mai?

[webfact]

Bodies of five missing in Chiang Mai flood rampage recovered

CHIANG MAI, Sept 28 – The bodies of a family of five, victims of an overnight flash flood, were recovered Wednesday in Chiang Mai's Mae Taeng after torrential forest run-off raced through residential areas late Tuesday night.

The bodies of all five members of the Intarat family, including two men, two women and a girl, were recovered today, three in the late morning and two in the afternoon.

The victims were identified as Chamrat, Saengchan, Pat, Suntorn and Mallika, a nine-year-old girl, according to Anupong Vawongmoon, Mae Taeng district chief.

Earlier, local government officer Duangkam Wuthi said two days of heavy rain in Mae Taeng’s Meuang Kai subdistrict triggered the forest run-off which poured into Ban Kai Noi. He said that four homes built on the river bank were swept away, and he reported that all five members of one family were reported missing.

Meanwhile, the water level in the Ping River flowing through Chiang Mai municipality on Wednesday reached 3.85 metres, exceeding its critical level, and began overflowing.

Responding to the challenge of the rising water, municipal workers reinforced sandbag embankments four metres high.

In a related development, the Hydrology and Water Management Center for the Upper Northern Region warned that the water level in the Ping River today will reach its peak at 4.30 metres. Some communities along the river, particularly Pa Phrao Nok and Charoen Prathet, will be affected.

To brace for the flood, residents in the at-risk communities were moving their belongings to higher ground and placing sandbags to hold back the overflowing water.

Most schools on Charoen Prathet Road were closed temporarily.

In Nakhon Sawan, the unabated flood continued. Some sections of rail tracks are under floodwater, with 22 centimetres deep, disrupting rail traffic.

Chiang Mai-Bangkok and Bangkok-Chiang Mai services are currently suspended. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-09-28

[rohitsuk]

Don't forget these.

Where to buy a pair in CM

[george]

Landslide warning (today & tmmrw) in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Sukhothai, Uttaradi, Chantaburi and Trat.

[george]

Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai flooded, water level ~30 cm

[rubl]

And now for the good news:

Today Vira Vongsangnak, deputy director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department, said that the amount of water in the Chao Phraya river is expected to return to normal levels after Nov 15, this year.

[Ricardo]

PTIS had closed for the day, due to the local river rising, and the possibility of the main access-road being closed, if waters rose any higher. Parents were warned by SMS and email about 07.30.

And PTIS will also be closed tomorrow, we just heard at 6pm, due to the approach-road flooding.

[sidolis]

Chiang Mai looks like it'll flood imminently. Debris stacking up against bridge, water getting through sandbags along bank /via@Francis_Wade

I think text like this is inaccurate and unhelpful.

A couple roads near the river may flood today; big deal. Unless you live exactly in that area the only thing you may notice is some traffic jams in some (avoidable) areas.

The town as a whole does NOT flood. I will be downtown having beers there tonight.

The last major floods - 6 years ago? - affected large areas of the city, the bus station and train stations were both flooded/closed. 'Downtown' (if you mean night bazaar area) was very much flooded. If you mean old town then no, that area doesn't flood - that's why king Mengrai moved there from his initial site!

[Mapguy]

The 2005 flood record posted above (#27) is significant if you want to compare events. Note the peak water levels in 2005 were far above those now anticipated from the hydrological stations.

Even more significant, probably, is the continued paths of Pacific storms making landfall to the east. The ground is very, very saturated in NW Thailand. That suggests that run-off will be even greater in the near term.

Rent an Army Duck (if people can remember what they were and find one)!

[victor15]

Just watched channel 5 tv, up to 45 cms already in some areas

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Just to show that this is *** NOT *** a case of "Chiang Mai" being flooded, this is 6pm at the moat.

Also shows that the people who built this town 715 years ago knew what they were doing; clearly you get flooding near the river when it bursts it's banks, but the actual town is solid as a rock!

[Chopperboy]

The town as a whole does NOT flood. I will be downtown having beers there tonight.

Having a nice beer downtown!

[finnomick1]

TWITTER UPDATES:

PM has ordered a restrucuring of efforts to solve flooding and launched a caravan to help flood victims /

Officials have found 3 bodies which were swept away by flash flood currents in Chiang Mai while 2 remain missing /

Follow our Twitter updates here @georgebkk

http://twitter.com/georgebkk

" Launched a caravan " -- well, I suppose anything would help but boats would be more suited or even better, address the problem properly so it doesn't happen again next year !