All 50 Districts In Bangkok To Brace For Flood Tonight

[webfact]

Bangkok Governor: All 50 districts must brace for flood

BANGKOK, Oct 26 - Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra on Wednesday warned city dwellers in all 50 districts to brace for flooding as a significant portion of the backed up floodwater from the North is arriving the capital tonight.

The governor made the announcement as he inspected the water level in Chao Phraya River, which he said is likely to be at 2.40 metres above mean sea level.

Mr Sukhumbhand alerted the public that floodwater from the North is also arriving Bangkok Wednesday night, bringing the situation to a critical point.

The governor said he has instructed all 50 districts to be prepared for flooding and expressed concern for 13 specially at-risk areas along the Chao Phraya River, as well as districts in northern and eastern Bangkok, including Lad Krabang, Nong Chok, Min Buri, Khlong Sam Wa, Khan Na Yao, Bang Khen, Sai Mai, Don Mueang, Chatuchak, and Bang Sue.

City Hall will assess the situation again this evening before announcing whether it will declare further warnings for other areas, according to the governor.

Meanwhile, flooding at Don Mueang Airport housing the Relief Operations Centre (FROC) on Wednesday reportedly expanded, covering almost 90 per cent of the runways, according to a Thai News Agency (TNA) report.

The FROC distribution centre of essential items located at the airport cargo facility, has not yet been hit, and about ten large and medium-size commercial aircraft were seen parked at the runway.

TNA said concerned officials sped up moving donated materials piled on the first floor of the airport compound to Supachalasai National Stadium in inner Bangkok adjacent to Mah Boon Krong and reinforced flood prevention dykes with sandbags.

The large numbers of volunteers who had earlier helped pack relief packages at Don Meuang were markedly reduced as the airport was enveloped by floodwater. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-10-26

[webfact]

All Bangkok to be inundated: FROC

The Nation

Bangkokians should now accept the reality that all Bangkok areas will be inundated, Gen Pracha Promnok, director of the Flood Relief Operation Centre said Wednesday.

This is because there is so much floodwater in the northern area of Bangkok that the Bangkok authorities and Irrigation Department cannot drain it in time, he said.

"Therefore, Bangkokians should adjust themselves and accept the reality that all parts of Bangkok will be under water. The degree of flooding will depend on the landscape of each area," Pracha said.

-- The Nation 2011-10-26

[bkkjames]

Still a lot of people in denial-that will change soon, sadly.

[bkkjames]

Just went past the ramada riverside, they have red flags on the riverside and not a sandbag in sight, staff appear to be excited (poor choice of words)?

[webfact]

Flooding today across Bangkok is really only a taste of what is to come when high tides peak 27-31 Oct /via@RichardBarrow

[bkkjames]

Cars parked on rama 3 bridge into thonburi, the bridge next to saphan krungthep.

[robblok]

and over 1TB of downloaded movies/TV shows are ready to go !

And crossing your fingers the power doesnt go out....

I have been flooded for over a week now and i still have power (much to the displeasure of some users )

But BKK is of course an other story. Here we have only a limited nr of people in the village.

[eljeque]

well that's it, then. The wellies are on, the noodles are on standby and over 1TB of downloaded movies/TV shows are ready to go !

I hope the electricity holds out for you.

Did you ever see the Twilight Zone, where the man who loved to read, after the nuclear devastation, arranged thousands of books to enjoy for many years..... and then broke his glasses!! argh!!

Stay safe and dry!! :-)

[steveromagnino]

Why does the flood water always seem to come at night?

Interesting observation. Is it because sabotage or officials opening gates is done at night?

Whatever it is, it works and this morning I can see green returning to the edges of field in some areas in my province. So things do get better and in few sunny days citizens will be able to stretch their legs outside the relief camps..........

The problems in Bangkok have a silver lining, although difficult to appreciate as water rises. Good luck Bangkokians

Pretty simple. High tides in Thailand occur once per day, and at this time of year occur in the late afternoon; around 4.50pm today.

As the water rises, the amount of height the water will drop as it flows to the sea reduces, and therefore the river at a certain point, stops flowing out to sea, and upstream for some distance, the rate of flow reduces out to sea, while the water coming from upstream keeps flowing at the same rate.

This results in the water being at its highest, in line with the high tide. At this time of year, due to (IIRC) the moon, the tides tend to be higher and the lows not as low. April/May is when you see super low tides in the Gulf of Thailand.

Also, which doesn't help, the normal rainy season monsoon which we saw yesterday, tends to fall in the late afternoon following the land heating up and pulling in a sea breeze and pushing clouds up with height resulting in rain etc etc; which is why EVERY YEAR Sept and Oct are the most prone to flooding, as it is a perfect storm of soaking soil, rainfall from the north, high tides and afternoon rain.

Bangkok can handle flash flooding; what it cannot handle is the amount of water coming south.

No conspiracy (unless you believe Jatuporn) it is pretty simple stuff.

[khunken]

Why does the flood water always seem to come at night?

That is a good question! Someone opening the gates in the night??

Yes, a very good question indeed. Anybody have a rough time when it is likely to stsrt?

[Swiss1960]

At last somebody telling the people the truth about what they have to expect.... finally ending all the lies that have been told...

I talked with a Thai friend on Skype this morning, she did see the PM on television yesterday evening... was shocked about that performance, the PM must have made stuttering manifestations, not looking into camera but reading from a written script, completely insecure about what to do and say... and of course in major denial of any responsibility...

One wonders whether her brother has such a bad handwriting???

BTW: My Thai friend by now really regrets how she voted in July...

Edited October 26, 2011 by Swiss1960

[crusader79]

Never a dull moment in Thailand, good luck everyone.

Edited October 26, 2011 by crusader79

[zydeco]

Why does the flood water always seem to come at night?

Interesting observation. Is it because sabotage or officials opening gates is done at night?

Whatever it is, it works and this morning I can see green returning to the edges of field in some areas in my province. So things do get better and in few sunny days citizens will be able to stretch their legs outside the relief camps..........

The problems in Bangkok have a silver lining, although difficult to appreciate as water rises. Good luck Bangkokians

Pretty simple. High tides in Thailand occur once per day, and at this time of year occur in the late afternoon; around 4.50pm today.

As the water rises, the amount of height the water will drop as it flows to the sea reduces, and therefore the river at a certain point, stops flowing out to sea, and upstream for some distance, the rate of flow reduces out to sea, while the water coming from upstream keeps flowing at the same rate.

This results in the water being at its highest, in line with the high tide. At this time of year, due to (IIRC) the moon, the tides tend to be higher and the lows not as low. April/May is when you see super low tides in the Gulf of Thailand.

Also, which doesn't help, the normal rainy season monsoon which we saw yesterday, tends to fall in the late afternoon following the land heating up and pulling in a sea breeze and pushing clouds up with height resulting in rain etc etc; which is why EVERY YEAR Sept and Oct are the most prone to flooding, as it is a perfect storm of soaking soil, rainfall from the north, high tides and afternoon rain.

Bangkok can handle flash flooding; what it cannot handle is the amount of water coming south.

No conspiracy (unless you believe Jatuporn) it is pretty simple stuff.

Guess it makes sense. Personally, all this info on tides, currents, and monsoons still is a little bit of a mystery. I was born and raised in a continental interior. So, the dangers here are always a little hard for me to recognize. Tornadoes, hail storms, prairie wildfires, that's a different matter. In those cases, I'm your man. Here, I'll always be a fish out of water--so to speak.

[bino]

If we are lucky, he's still lying.

Would be nice to be lied to for a change! However, since the initial warning came from Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who has been consistent and reliable throughout this ordeal, I would take it very seriously.

[vahack]

good luck down in BKK. we are high and dry up in Isaan..

[Crossy]

and over 1TB of downloaded movies/TV shows are ready to go !

And crossing your fingers the power doesnt go out....

Power in our condo went out as soon as the water arrived, intelligent planning put the power incomer and backup generator in the basement

Wifey is now supplying 4 apartments from her little 2kVA generator

[bkkjames]

No full moon but venus is getting closer lol.

How about this, people don't use as much water during the night but do all day long, that water goes somewhere-accumulating all day long.

Just a theory, never been tested, can I apply for a science minister position lol

[robblok]

and over 1TB of downloaded movies/TV shows are ready to go !

And crossing your fingers the power doesnt go out....

Power in our condo went out as soon as the water arrived, intelligent planning put the power incomer and backup generator in the basement

Wifey is now supplying 4 apartments from her little 2kVA generator

Does she have enough fuel to keep it running ? I always wondered about things like that. I do know one thing im going to be better prepared next time.

[h90]

and over 1TB of downloaded movies/TV shows are ready to go !

And crossing your fingers the power doesnt go out....

Power in our condo went out as soon as the water arrived, intelligent planning put the power incomer and backup generator in the basement

Wifey is now supplying 4 apartments from her little 2kVA generator

Does she have enough fuel to keep it running ? I always wondered about things like that. I do know one thing im going to be better prepared next time.

I have 70 Liter here but got told that this generator take 2-3 Liter per hour....hope that is an overestimation

25-30 hour is not that much if the water stays 1 month

[Thailand]

Good luck Bangkok.

The floods here in CH came and went in a fairly rapid manner and we are now also dry as a bone and back to watering the gardens.

Hope you guys are soon back to moaning about water shortages.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I talked to the owner of the building where I live today.. Fortunately (I hope/I think), I'm on the second floor...

But they have a ground level that they use for car parking, storage and a small apartment for an employee family... The owner said her entire family has lived in the same multi-story building in lower Suk for about 50 years...

And during that time, she said, they've never once had rain/flood water come off the street and into the ground floor level, which is open and not protected in any special way... Although the soi appears to have a good and well-developed drainage system.

Going to be very interesting to see what happens in the next couple days.

[chmiroau]

Batten down the hatches, get ready for the biggest floating markets of all time. Sure hope that the quality of the goods is high.

As A foreigner I was the trend setter in our village. We have had the sand bags in place for a week now, bedding in. The personal belongings have been up stairs for a week, and all the while we were being looked at by the neighbours wondering what we were doing. Some in the village still haven't done anything to secure their belongings, and have refused our assistance.

Best of luck for all. See what happens hey?

[whybother]

I talked to the owner of the building where I live today.. Fortunately (I hope/I think), I'm on the second floor...

But they have a ground level that they use for car parking, storage and a small apartment for an employee family... The owner said her entire family has lived in the same multi-story building in lower Suk for about 50 years...

And during that time, she said, they've never once had rain/flood water come off the street and into the ground floor level, which is open and not protected in any special way... Although the soi appears to have a good and well-developed drainage system.

Going to be very interesting to see what happens in the next couple days.

"Fortunately (I hope/I think), I'm on the second floor..."

You THINK you're on the second floor??

[bkkjames]

No politics here please!

[whybother]

Please explain how the Thai Democrats would have avoided the flooding of Bangkok.

They wouldn't have.

But, IMO, they would have been better communicating what's happening ... as shown by Sukhumband's performance.

[Crossy]

Power in our condo went out as soon as the water arrived, intelligent planning put the power incomer and backup generator in the basement

Wifey is now supplying 4 apartments from her little 2kVA generator

Does she have enough fuel to keep it running ? I always wondered about things like that. I do know one thing im going to be better prepared next time.

I have 70 Liter here but got told that this generator take 2-3 Liter per hour....hope that is an overestimation

25-30 hour is not that much if the water stays 1 month

A 2kVA petrol beastie should use about 1/2-1 Litre an hour depending upon load.

The local fuel outlet has power and fuel, the local motorcycle taxi chaps have acquired a boat and will collect fuel and water etc. If all else fails there are lots of cars stuck in the parking

[petedk]

I just heared a rumour - cant verify it is true. All ATMS in Bangkok about to go offline.

Why would they be about to go offline? Is all the power going to go out in all the banks?

I was warned of this a week ago by a friend who is in a top position at a bank. It's something to do with Bank of Thailand's location.

I was told to withdraw money for two weeks and to inform friends and family.

I think they didn't want to make it public because of the fear of panic withdrawals. We can see what happened to water and food supplies. Can you imagine everyone withdrawing HUGE amounts of cash and the effect that would have on the bank's economy?

Edited October 26, 2011 by petedk

[alexakap]

The local fuel outlet has power and fuel, the local motorcycle taxi chaps have acquired a boat and will collect fuel and water etc.

Why you'll need fuel - when you unable to ride or even start the vehicle...?

Try this:

[vahack]

I have 70 Liter here but got told that this generator take 2-3 Liter per hour....hope that is an overestimation

25-30 hour is not that much if the water stays 1 month

if u are in a situation where u are using emergency power (or emergency resources of any kind) you should conserve it. if 70L has to last a month then only have the generator on 1 hour a day.

personally i would have got the heck out of there days ago..

[whybother]

I just heared a rumour - cant verify it is true. All ATMS in Bangkok about to go offline.

Why would they be about to go offline? Is all the power going to go out in all the banks?

I was warned of this a week ago by a friend who is in a top position at a bank. It's something to do with Bank of Thailand's location.

I was told to withdraw money for two weeks.

Once, again, how would the Bank of Thailand's location affect ALL the bank's ATMs?

The ATM transactions don't go through the BOT. Each bank's ATMs are independent. The back end switches will talk to each other for inter-bank transactions, but that doesn't stop all ATMs for banks that are still working.