Floods ravage key towns in the South

[Lite Beer]

Floods ravage key towns in the South
The Sunday Nation

Strong waves lash boats anchored near a beach on Phi Phi island in Krabi yesterday. More than 20 boats were sunk.

Songkhla, Chumphon among areas hit; 23 hurt as bus overturns in Surat Thani

Rainfall has ravaged many areas in the South with officials in Nakhon Si Thammarat declaring 11 districts as disaster zones. Eight Songkhla's 16 districts have also been classed as disaster zones.

Five districts in Chumphon - Sawi, Thung Tako, Phato, Lamae and Lang Suan - were also flooded yesterday. Staff at Lang Suan Hospital, which is surrounded by water 50cm-deep, were preparing to evacuate patients yesterday to safer ground.

Several sections of the Asia 41 Highway were also flooded. Khao Chairat sub-district in Pathiu, Chumphon, had some 100 homes and 1,000 rai of rubber plantations damaged by strong winds at 2am yesterday.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Governor Apinan Suethanuwong signed a disaster zone declaration after 105,156 people in 11 districts were affected by floods. Some 50 schools were forced to close - 34 in Chu-uat district.

Army Region 4 sent soldiers to help residents in Ban Tha Sung Bon in Tha Sala district, where some 100 homes were damaged by a storm surge. Meanwhile, in Nopphitam district, forest run-off hit three villages in Krung Ching sub-district and marooned 200 households there, while a house was also reportedly damaged by landslide.

Songkhla's disaster zones were Muang, Chana, Singha Nakhon, Ranot, Sathing Phra, Khuan Niang, Krasae Sin and Rattaphum. Provincial authorities dispatched 26 flat-bottom boats to help victims in severest-hit Ranot, Sathing Phra and Chana districts, provincial disaster prevention and mitigation head Amnat Polmat said.

But flooding in Songkhla has started to subside since rain stopped Friday night. To date 34,041 people in 63 sub-districts in eight districts were affected, although no deaths or injuries were reported, he said.

In Surat Thani's Tha Chana district, some 2,000 households in the municipal area were swamped as two roads were under 70cm of water. With more water expected later last night from the brimming Khlong Pa reservoir plus runoff from Prasong sub-district upstream, officials urged residents to move their belongings to higher ground.

In Phunphin district, a bus from carrying 42 passengers from Phuket to Bangkok lost control amid heavy rain on the Asia Highway at 3pm, which left 23 people injured.

Phatthalung governor Seri Srihatrai was also set to declare all districts as disaster zones, if the situation did not improve. Runoff from the Banthat mountain range inundated Pak Phayun, Pa Bon, Bang Kaeo, Khao Chaison, Khuan Khanun and Muang districts.

Villagers had to use boats for transport in the wake of a flood up to 1.5m deep in hard-hit parts of Muang and Khuan Khanun districts.

In Trang, over 2,500 homes in five districts were hit by floods. Na Yong district saw floodwater rise to 50-70cm deep, cutting three sections of Phetchkasem Highway, so motorists going to Phattalung had to use other routes. One death was reported in Ratsada district, when a six-year-old boy was swept away and drowned.

In Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bang Saphan district, rainfall since 2am caused flash floods in some areas of Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi sub-districts, affecting 15 villages. But district chief Thawil Chanthawora-nurak said water should go down quickly, as a canal gate connected to sea had been opened 20 metres to drain water out faster.

-- The Nation 2013-11-24

[Thainy Tim]

Been affected by flooding both here and in the UK, it's not pleasant.

I wish them the best of luck, and god's speed for a fast recovery.

If the government had any money left after the rice scam for the north, they would do well to send some there.

[h90]

Been affected by flooding both here and in the UK, it's not pleasant.

I wish them the best of luck, and god's speed for a fast recovery.

If the government had any money left after the rice scam for the north, they would do well to send some there.

I have been effected in 2011 in both in the south and in Bangkok.

If you are prepared with food water generator etc etc. It goes down from really bad to just annoying.

Sit in the 2nd floor and do nothing for 1 month and slowly going bankrupt.....

[bushwacker]

Title ... Floods Ravish Town ..... Picture ... Waves on the Ocean. Good job, maybe the editor was on a lunch break!

[thomash]

Well if the people down south need some food the government has plenty of rice they could send them but I am willing to bet it will just continue to sit rotting away in the storage facilities!

[SpaceKadet]

At times like these one feels lucky that the house is 3 km from the beach and on top of the hill.

Global warming? What global warming...?