More Floods Hit Homes Near The Night Safari Park

[Jai Dee]

More floods hit homes near the Night Safari park

Mae Hia residents forced to scramble to safety for second time in two weeks

Dozens of Chiang Mai residents had to scramble out of their windows to escape raging flash floods yesterday that ravaged their hometown for the second time this month.

"With the water rushing in so furiously, it's impossible to open the door out to get out because the torrent was pushing in," one flood victim said.

About 30 houses along the Mae Hia waterway were submerged under as much as 1.2m of floodwater for more than four hours early yesterday morning.

Backhoes were immediately brought in to enlarge the waterway, allowing the water to flow more easily. The situation had returned to normal by 8am, but significant property damage was reported.

"The floods damaged hundreds of electrical appliances. A lot of vehicles also broke down after being submerged for too long," Tanawat Yodjai, the chairman of the Mae Hia Tambon Administrative Organisation, said.

He said run-off water from Doi Suthep and Doi Kham had caused the flash floods. With the vast boundaries of the Chiang Mai Night Safari and the International Horticultural Exhibition sealed against floods, running rainwater caused by a heavy downpour could only go down the Mae Hia waterway.

"The waterway is also shallower because of encroachment," Tanawat said.

He said his organisation had received Bt10 million from the government to dredge the Mae Hia waterway and build embankments. He said the funds would be spent only on critical areas because it would take up to Bt54 million to construct an embankment along one 6km stretch of the waterway.

A landslide temporarily blocked the route to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep early yesterday. However, officials had cleared the road by 8am.

In the northern province of Lampang, more than 150 houses in Hang Chat district were flooded. Some bridges were also damaged.

"We have to repair the bridges otherwise many students won't be able to get their schools," Ban Mae Tan Noi village head Teerawat Sriwanchai said. The flood had subsided by the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department said heavy downpours would continue in the North and Northeast. The department urged people in Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Nan, Phrae, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Maha Sarakham, Roi Et, Yasothon, Si Sa Ket, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani to brace for possible flash floods.

Source: The Nation - 15 August 2006