La Nina Threatens Thailand With More Floods

[John K]

BANGKOK (Reuters) - An expected La Nina wet weather pattern is likely to bring worse than usual floods to Thailand this year, a top disaster official said on Friday after the worst deluge in 60 years killed at least 62 people in the north.

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La Nina, Spanish for "the girl," had already brought an early start to the monsoon, lashing much of the country with rain, even the rubber-growing south where the wet season was not due until October, Samith Dhammasaroj said.

"It will be a year of heavy rains and floods in Thailand," said Samith, a former Meteorological Department chief who raised the alarm about the danger of a tsunami striking Thailand -- and was ignored -- well before the Indian Ocean disaster of 2004.

"October to December will be the most critical period for the central region and Bangkok," said Samith, now head of the national disaster warning center.

Bangkok, a city of 10 million people built on a river delta, is no stranger to floods. One of its worst was in September 1942, when waist-high waters took two months to recede.

The city would have to hope there was not excessive rain in the north as the amount of flooding it suffers depends these days on three dams fed by rivers flowing south.

"If there isn't too much rain in the north and these dams can hold all the water, Bangkok is likely to escape," Samith said.

But the hilly north has rarely suffered flash floods and mudslides on the scale it has this week.

The Meteorological Department -- which says the La Nina phenomenon is weakening -- said more rain was on the way as rescuers slogged through mud and debris looking for at least 53 people still missing.

DEFORESTATION A FACTOR

Scientists and relief officials attributed the disaster to a rare collision of low-pressure areas from the Pacific and Indian Oceans causing unusually heavy rain to fall on deforested hills, particularly in Uttaradit province bordering Laos.

The hills, stripped by illegal loggers of the tree cover which could have held them together, or turned into orchards, could not absorb the water and sections slid away as mudslides.

The slides and flash floods destroyed houses, cut roads and damaged dams as well as inundating towns and forcing thousands to flee their homes. Large areas were littered with trees, making access to more remote communities difficult.

Samith said the collision of low-pressure areas was the result of La Nina -- a pattern of usually cold surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific that leads to greater rainfall in the west.

It would increase Thailand's average rainfall -- around 2,400 mm (94.5 inches) -- sharply, he said.

"This year we will have much more than the average," he said.

Uttaradit, 500 km (300 miles) north of Bangkok, was the worst-hit province with 41 known dead after a deluge that dumped 330 mm (13 inches) in one 24-hour period.

Tens of thousands of people were affected as houses were torn apart by flash floods bearing uprooted trees, or buried under heaps of mud. The military was distributing food and water by truck and helicopter.

In some hilly areas, however, the only way to get food and water into villages where stores had been destroyed was to carry it in on foot or by airlift, officials said.

Among the dead was a 40-year-old man who won 4 million baht ($105,000) in a government lottery on April 1, Bangkok newspapers reported. He was found under his newly refurbished house.

[albert dickinson]

As this posting almost says ti has been caused by deforestation.The people to blame are the rich and corrupt people their own kith & kin.Now is an ideal time for the media to inform these poor people as to who is responsiuble for this disaster Albert

[John K]

In the Philippines it has been due to that for many years. I just wonder how long and how many lives it will take before they realize that.

[Gumballl]

It's not just the "rich" that cause deforestation. The poor are also to blame. In today's world IMO, a poor person would be happier being rich for a week (and then die), than to be poor for a lifetime.

[boppia]

Looks like rain to me. Nature at work. Makes me feel alive. Fresh. It's the best thing on earth 99% of the time. Bring it on.

[albert dickinson]

GumballI disagree with you entirely .the poor who live in the forrests are some of the greatest conservationists on the earth.They have lived there for hundreds of years.They were quite content until the rich&corrupt invaded their habitat ,in their greed they destroyed the habitat of these lovely people and we are left with the disaster these poor peole find themselves in today.Logging was banned in Thailand some 10 years ago,but it still flourishes Because of the RICH & CORRUPT. ALBERT

[lopburi3]

The rich and corrupt are not the ones in the forest cutting down the trees however.

[penzman]

True, no blisters on their hands but they're the ones mostly responsible for creating a demand for expensive wood products.