Bangkok on Alert as Severe Floods Claim Fifteen Lives

Published : October 21, 2010 :: 16:10:36 [ 5,016 views ]

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation report that 15 people have died as a result of severe flooding in the nations north and northeast over the last 10-days.

Bangkok, the 21^st of October 2010: According to the Department of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation, 15 deaths have been reported from flooding over the last 10-days, but the capital is yet to be affected by rising water levels in the Chao Phraya River.

Deaths have so far been reported in eight provinces, with four casualties being reported in the central northern province of Lop Buri and four in the northeastern province of Burirum.

At present three people are currently reported dead in Nakhon Ratchasima, the province hardest hit in the worst flooding seen in the region in over 50-years. Another man has been reported missing.

Torrential rains and flooding have so far been reported in 21 northern provinces, but as yet Bangkok has remained untouched by predicted run-off from the Chao Phraya River. Local residents have been warned to expect a rising of water levels in the river with the run-off expected to coincide with high tide on the 24-26^th of October.

The Department of Drainage & Sewerage reported that the Chao Phraya river was coping well with run-off from flooding in the north. No riverside communities are presently affected by the situation, although vigilant observation has been advised.

Bracing for possible flooding triggered from the rise in water levels, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has closed all 157 sluices to canals in the area, while all 157 water-pumping stations have been tested and are operational along the Chao Phraya River.

Flood prevention dikes, approximately 2.5 meters in height and running 77 kilometres of the river are expected to cope with the excess water, while sandbags have been used as artificial dikes in areas where none are present.