PM calls for more early-warning systems
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Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday instructed all governors to implement the "2Ps 2Rs" in fighting off disasters in their provinces.
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“Make the checklist and see if you’ve followed them,” she said, referring to preparation and prevention, and response and recovery.</div>
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She was speaking during a morning videoconference with the Emergency Operations Centre for Floods, Storms and Landslides. </div>
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Yingluck was concerned about mudslide risks and demanded that an early-warning system be installed, deputy government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said.</div>
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“We have to prevent losses from disasters, or at least minimise them,” she said.</div>
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Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap will meet with authorities to discuss the early-warning network today, she said. </div>
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A landslide earlier in the day left two people dead and three missing. </div>
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“The government has already approved a budget of Bt10 million for 23 provinces for their efforts to prevent disasters,” she said. </div>
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A source said Yingluck also ordered Cabinet members from the Pheu Thai Party to visit struggling Chiang Mai, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani, Lop Buri, Angthong, Sing Buri and Ayutthaya tomorrow.</div>
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“Yingluck will then engage in a videoconference with them on October 1,” the source said. </div>
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Still 21 provinces are washed out, some of them heavily. </div>
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Wiboon Sanguanpong, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said 2,000 boats were sent to Lop Buri, Uthai Thani, Angthong and Chai Nat yesterday. </div>
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“Each of these provinces will get 500 boats,” he said.</div>
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Later 3,000 more boats would also be dispatched to flood victims so they can get around, as some villages have been isolated. </div>
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Supornrat Saengmalee, chief of the Khon Kaen disaster prevention and mitigation office, said some local roads were seriously swamped and people could travel around by boats only. </div>
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Farms, paddy fields and houses in many parts of Mancha Khiri, Phra Yuen, Chonnabot, Ban Phai and Waeng Yai districts were inundated.</div>
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After the storm, the Chi River was rising threateningly. </div>
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“It may overflow into Khon Kaen town in one or two days,” she said. </div>
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The situation remains worrying with not only run-off from upcountry but also heavy downpours submerging many areas.</div>
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The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency warned that 14 districts in Bangkok could face flashfloods in three to five days. </div>
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As the floodwaters remained high, victims in some areas began to protest against the flood management by authorities, saying they felt they might have been made to suffer for people living elsewhere.</div>
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On Tuesday, more than 400 people from Nakhon Nayok’s Ongkharak district tore down a sandbag barrier in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district in the belief it was put up to protect Pathum Thani’s economic zone at their expense. </div>
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Yesterday, more than 200 people from the other side of the weir protested, claiming they were just about to harvest their crops when more floodwaters poured in.</div>
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“Floodwaters have risen by five more centimetres since the embankment was dismantled,” Pon Saengphokaeo said.</div>
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This 74-year-old rice farmer from Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district said all the plants in his paddy fields would be destroyed if more water came in.</div>
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Irrigation officials finally persuaded the Pathum Thani protesters to disperse. </div>
