Storm Wutip may bring more misery

[Lite Beer]

WEATHER
Storm Wutip may bring more misery
The Sunday Nation

In Prachin Buri

BANGKOK: -- Flood-hit areas in the Northeast, and most of Bangkok likely to get more rain

The Weather Bureau warned yesterday of heavy rains in the Northeast tomorrow when tropical storm Wutip is expected to hit upper Vietnam, as parts of Thailand, notably Isaan, continue to reel under floods.

The department also warned that people living in flood-risk areas in Central and Eastern Thailand, especially Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Lop Buri, Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaew, Chanthaburi, Trat and Chachoengsao should brace for heavy rains and possible landslides during this period.

According to the forecast, most of Bangkok, estimated at 80 per cent of the capital, will see rainfall.

In the meantime, the Royal Irrigation Department's Water Analysis Centre reported yesterday that the country's major reservoirs now contain 47,262 million cubic metres of water, about 67 per cent of their capacity. So, they could still hold another 22,800 million cubic metres of water.

The centre also said reservoirs in the Central and Northeast continued to rise due to rain. It affirmed that the department would focus on managing water in reservoirs, taking into account the volume of rain while also aiming to store enough water over the next two months for the upcoming dry season.

Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi told a national audience on the "Prime Minister Yingluck Government Meets the People" TV show yesterday there was only a slim chance of runoff from the North causing a repeat of the 2011 flood crisis in Bangkok. He said the capital would have no overall problem, except the city's eastern side that may face minor flooding, provided there was no rain storm in the north of Bangkok in the next few days.

He also believed the flood situation in Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani would improve in the next couple of days.

Yesterday morning, Prime Minister Yingluck visited a flood-hit area at Wat Bot in tambon Bang Krabeu in Pathum Thani's Sam Khok district.

Plodprasop, who chairs the Water and Flood Management Commission (WFMC), also urged the PM to instruct officials to tackle the upcoming storm Wutip. He warned that if the storm headed to Ubon Ratchathani, the situation there could worsen, as the province had taken in floodwater from Si Sa Ket and let it through to Prachin Buri.

Thailand has had 1,245 millimetres of rainfall so far this year, 32 per cent lower than in 2011, Plodprasop said. He added that Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district saw the Chao Phraya River rise by 1.5 metres beyond its banks while Angthong's Pa Mok district saw a metre rise beyond its banks. Low-lying areas outside the flood-barrier zone on the left and right banks of the Chao Phraya would see floodwater 60cm to 1.5 metres deep, which was a normal situation.

During her visit, Yingluck also presided over a ceremony to present 360 boats for rescuing flood victims and took 30 flat-bottom boats and one communications vehicle from Honda's Khiang Khang Thais Fund to pass onto the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department. She also watched a demonstration showing the use of rescue boats.

She met and presented relief items to flood victims in the area on a boat trip on the Chao Phraya with Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (HAII) director Royol Chitradon.

Yingluck said concerned agencies would meet this week to learn about the flooding and work out measures in advance for a worst-case scenario. She also assigned Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt to study the building of a water tunnel at Mahachai and Khlong Luang sluice gates, as the two places had high sand levels that blocked the waterway. A permanent tunnel would drain water faster, according to Royol.

Royol said the east of Bangkok would not suffer severe flooding like in 2011 as it would be just be a transit point for floodwater.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva also inspected flood prevention measures at the Khlong Rangsit sluice gates in Pathum Thani's Muang district yesterday. He promised to talk to the government to provide 12 water pumps. Currently, eight water pumps have been deployed.

Meanwhile Ayutthaya Governor Wittaya Phiewpong said although flooding in the province was not as bad as in 2011, they wanted sluice gates in Bang Pakong and Bang Pu areas to be opened so that floodwater in Bangkok and upstream runoff in Ayutthaya could be alleviated. "Although we are a water-retaining area, we don't want a prolonged flood," he said.

Riverside residents in Pa Sak in Ayutthaya were urged to move their belongings higher after Pa Sak Cholsit Dam brimmed at 93 per cent capacity. Uthai Thani's Muang district saw a barrier on the Tak Daed river bust, inundating some 20,000 rai of rice fields in tambon Nong Phai Baen and Noenm Lek.

In Prachin Buri, all seven districts were hit. Kabinburi district's tambon Kabin was under three metres of water, while farmland and homes in tambon Ban Hoy, Koh Loy, Prachantakham as well as tambon Ban Tham in Sri Mahapho district were under two metres of water. Sri Mahapho saw 200 flood-hit villagers from tambon Tha Toom and Sri Mahapho continue a road-block protest for the second day, calling for the opening of the Had Yang water-gate to drain water.

All five districts in Si Sa Ket have been submerged, including Muang district, with 1,850 residents evacuated to 12 shelters. In a ninth death, Sam Deepak, 49, drowned while fishing.

In Phetchabun in the Upper Central region, 12 villages in tambon Ban Khok in Muang district suffered the "worst flood in 15 years". The water level had been 1.5 metres since 5am yesterday, and affecting 2,000 homes.

-- The Nation 2013-09-29

[NongKhaiKid]

The floods of 2011 were supposed to be THE wake up call and all the stock phrases were trotted out about learning, appropriate measurers for the future, never happen again etc.

All this government learned was how to use the need for flood prevention as a cover story fo justify massive borrowing.

[Thait Spot]

Thailand would be better off if it had a full government of electricity poles.

A sad fact

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Lobo4819]

Regarding Plod, would there be any difference if they just randomly selected one of the village idiots from the Tambons around the country and gave them a shot at being Deputy Prime Minister for a week? Certainly within a few months they could find one that is an improvement over what we currently have.

[siampolee]

The floods of 2011 were supposed to be THE wake up call and all the stock phrases were trotted out about learning, appropriate measures for the future, never happen again etc.

Certainly It would seem as if no one has yet kissed the sleeping beauty to wake her up and bring her back from the zombie state that she and her ilk of brown nosing acolytes exist in after she and they partook many a gulp of the beverage ''the heady draught of power'' that her puppet master the evil warlock gave her and the others of his ilk to drink so as he would be able to control his brown nosing acolytes.

'Twould seem as if she and Plod see water on the land as no problem and regard water on what passes for their brains as no problem either in their current ongoing zombie state.

[bigbamboo]

So Plodpraprop believes this...... except for that..... providing the other doesn't happen.

In the words' of Roger FloodWaters..........'Plod, you're nearly a laugh but you're really a cry'.

[noitom]

The cast of characters in Thailand is amazing.

[onionluke]

450 km east of Danang and moving west at 12 km/h .

[SICHONSTEVE]

Thailand would be better off if it had a full government of electricity poles.

A sad fact

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Do you know what? I find that I don't have too much sympathy for the people from Isaan. It may seem like a cruel thing to say, but they need to learn the basic fact that to vote in such inept people as there is within this government means they are inevitably going to suffer sometime on account of having people there who don't know what to do when there is a crisis unfolding right before their very eyes!

If they hadn't tried to bulldozer through the 350 billion baht spending without sufficient government scrutiny (to enable the money to be siphoned off into their bank accounts without people noticing), then the Democrats would have agreed to the money being spent on sensible defences a long time ago and some of the agonies could have been spared.

I actually believe now that turkeys DO vote for christmas (in Thailand, anyway)!!!

Edited September 29, 2013 by SICHONSTEVE

[klauskunkel]

Storm Wutip may bring more misery

not as much misery as the government brings daily

[drdoom6996]

The floods of 2011 were supposed to be THE wake up call and all the stock phrases were trotted out about learning, appropriate measurers for the future, never happen again etc.

All this government learned was how to use the need for flood prevention as a cover story fo justify massive borrowing.

Yep, the PTP woke up and stole the money. And it will be the same this year after the floods are over to to prevent them next year. Any chance to steal a buck. What did Taksin say? "Thailand is for Thais". But what he didn't say was that Thai money is for the Shin Clan.

[BlackJack]

proactive?

reactive?

I rest my case!

[SICHONSTEVE]

proactive?

reactive?

I rest my case!

bearing in mind that Yingluck and Plodrasop have constantly stated that there is no problem and everything is under control then they can afford to be inactive, which is exactly what they have been!!!

[Scott]

There is a potentially dangerous storm headed this way. There is flooding in large parts of the country. There are people who depend on getting information about the threat of flooding from this site.

Your opinion of the gov't is not helpful and not wanted. There are numerous other threads where you can post.

Let's leave this one to the storm Wutip.

Further off-topic posts will be deleted without notice.

[schondie]

Any other TV members ready to fire up their outboard motors to push all this floodwater out into the sea?

[slipperylobster]

Crikey...it looks like Udon is the target, if you look at this map. Good news, it will quickly gear down before

[IMA_FARANG]

I haven't looked at the projected path of Wutip in 12 hours now, but the last path I saw projected it to come ashore just above Hue, Vietnam, cross Laos, and then skirt the Northern edge of Thailand from the Northeast to the Northwest of Thailand.

It is expected that the winds associated with Wutip will be dissipated as it crosses the highlands in Vietnam into Laos and the mountainous areas there.

Wutip 12 hours ago was just passing from a tropical depression or storm into a minimal cyclone (what would be called a Class 1 Atlantic Hurricane, if it were in the Atlantic).

However the water vapor satellite visual showed a LOT of water being entrained (fancy talk for being sucked in) from the ocean.

Therefore as Wutip dissipates we should expect it to dump heavy rain on it's path.

The mountains in Vietnam and Laos will get much of that rain.

however, no one can honestly say how much water will be left to fall in Thailand, especially in the Northeast of Thailand and Issan.

There is just no way to do anything but guess what the situation will be by the time what's left of the storm arrives in Thailand.

If I lived in that area however, I would do all that I could do to prepare for the possibility of heavy rain and flash flooding at least locally.

Humans can't decide that, or do much about it, mother Nature is the boss there.

Edited September 29, 2013 by IMA_FARANG

[metisdead]

A nonsense comment on moderation has been removed.

[Sheryl]

Just had an epic rainfall here, about 25 km north of Ampur Prachinburi. Never seen so much water come down so fast. And they say the main storm is yet to come ???

[Credo]

Here's a web site with the projected path. I don't know how often it is updated, but maybe of interest to some.

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/western-pacific/2013/Typhoon-Wutip

[IMA_FARANG]

Yes. it won't be crossing Northern Thailand until at least Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.

They just had something on the Thai news with a graphic showing all the Thai area from Laos down across the top of Thailand from the Northeast to the Northwest in red.

They expect severe flooding, especially in the mountainous areas all along the areas near the Thai Laotian border.

As I said in my other post the wind threat should be minimal by the time the storm gets to Thailand, but it is packing a lot of water, and as it dissipates over those mountains it's going to cause a lot of heavy rain and flash flooding at least.

The government is playing the threat down.

They are still focusing on Bangkok and aren't really concerned about Issan and the farmers there.

Whatever crop the farmers in Issan have still left in the fields, they will probably lose them.

I would expect a lot of erosion too due to flood runoff washing away the fields from flash flooding.

Edited September 29, 2013 by IMA_FARANG

[kannot]

"Yingluck said concerned agencies would meet this week to learn about the flooding and work out measures in advance for a worst-case scenario." Is she @#$@@@ serious ?Has this not been done yet ?What does 350 billion baht buy these days !!

new Mercedes. private jet, houses abroad, gold, you name it I'm sure they got it.

[Sheryl]

There is already torrential rain in Prachinburi, which can ill afford it.

[Scott]

This morning on CNN, I briefly saw a little about the storm. It is scheduled to hit Vietnam and then move on to Laos and Thailand. They believe the winds will die down and it is not carry as much moisture as previously thought.

As the weatherman said "we'll have to wait and see."

The bands of rain clouds from a storm like this cover a large area.

[Scott]

A troll post has been removed as well as a reply.

[webfact]

UPDATE:

Typhoon WUTIP (20W) currently located near 17.2 N 108.5 E is forecast to strike land to the following likelihood(s) at the given lead time(s):

Yellow Alert Country(s) or Province(s)

Thailand probability for TS is 65% within 12 hours

Note that

Yellow Alert (Elevated) is CAT 1 or above to between 10% and 30% probability, or TS to above 50% probability.

CAT 1 means Typhoon strength winds of at least 74 mph, 119 km/h or 64 knots 1-min sustained.

TS means Tropical Storm strength winds of at least 39 mph, 63 km/h or 34 knots 1-min sustained.

Source: http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/

[h90]

The floods of 2011 were supposed to be THE wake up call and all the stock phrases were trotted out about learning, appropriate measurers for the future, never happen again etc.

All this government learned was how to use the need for flood prevention as a cover story fo justify massive borrowing.

Such floods happen since decades if not centuries.....

[OleNordman]

I live in Ayutthaya, (On the island), where it rained steadily and heavily from about 4pm yesterday, (Sunday), until 6am today. If it has been the same all over the NW by tomorrow we will be wearing waders again. Many of our neighbors have been clearing their bottom stories and even moving to live with relatives in safer areas. The people on the street seem to be more aware of what is happening than the bureaucrats in Bangkok!

[hellodolly]

The floods of 2011 were supposed to be THE wake up call and all the stock phrases were trotted out about learning, appropriate measurers for the future, never happen again etc.

All this government learned was how to use the need for flood prevention as a cover story fo justify massive borrowing.

Such floods happen since decades if not centuries.....

Not exactly floods yes but the changing whether patterns in the world have been changing in the last few years and what worked 5 years ago will not work today. Thailand is in need of a knowledgeable water management plan from credible sources. that lets Thai academia out.

I am most assuredly not a Thaksin fan. But give the devil his due. He did indeed bring in water experts from Israel to study the situation here in Thailand and make recommendations. Recommendations that were later scrapped by another one of his parties. I think it was his brother in law that did it.

Lets face it the current government dosen't care. Two years ago Yingluck was informed that the stripping of trees was leading up to erosion and the huge amount of run off contributing to the floods. I believe she ordered them replaced. I think she said with in three months. But I later heard she said a year. Where are they?

[webfact]

RELATED:

Thai weather agency warns of heavy rain over northeastern, northern regions

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/671344-thai-weather-agency-warns-of-heavy-rain-over-northeastern-northern-regions/