Yom River bursts banks and floods rice farms in Phitsanulok

By The Nation

 

 

PHITSANULOK: -- The Yom River burst its banks to inundate rice fields in Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakam district on Tuesday morning, about two weeks before the Royal Irrigation Department’s plan to use the area for floodwater retention.
 

The department earlier urged farmers in Bang Rakam to harvest rice crops before August 15, when the department plans to start using the area for retaining some 400 million cubic metres of water.

 

But on Tuesday morning the Yom River, which flows from Sukhothai’s Muang district, burst its banks and inundated rice fields in tambons Tabaek Ngarm, Chumsaeng Songkram, Khui Muang, and Tha Na Ngam.

 

Luckily, most of the fields have been harvested. 

 

Farmers who have not begun harvesting used bulldozers to build flood levees, while farmers who have harvested rice opened flood levees to draw water to their fields to lessen the impact on the former.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30322429

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-01

Damn, they need the dam.

The extended Thai family has rice fields in that district. About 10 years ago, they said there was 3 meters of water covering the land. I thought they were crazy and put it down to a language mishap. Months later when I has able to see the rice fields, they weren't lying. The watermarks on the surrounding trees reached closer to 4 meters high. I was flabbergasted.

It's amazing what you will see after a few years in the tropics.

Any tropics...... not just Thailand.

Weather events of a magnitude that no Government can plan for.

Floods that you simply cannot believe.

For the relative newcomer from the higher latitudes it must be daunting....and a lot of your criticism and suggestions will flow away just like the water will do.  Just a fact of life. Don't like it...go somewhere else (and I don't mean that in a go back home nasty way.....move to higher ground).

We can plan, act, and do a lot of things but when mother nature takes hold.....just sit back and watch.

I have seen rivers (the aftermath of it) rise 50/100 feet or more over the years and just spill their guts everywhere after a cyclone.

An innocent looking creek for 20 years suddenly grows to a mile wide.

On 8/1/2017 at 11:12 AM, Eric Loh said:

Damn, they need the dam.

Dams are good until the volume reaches the maximum and the inflow is greater than the outflow........they cease to be a dam at that point.