Riverside communities at risk when tide rises
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In order to protect the capital from floods caused by high tide over the next two days, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been advised further strengthen the sandbag embankments along the Chao Phraya River.
“Residential areas along the Chao Phraya River are most at risk if the level of the sea rises,” Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro Informatics Division of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, said.
Royol is part of the committee set up by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to deal with the flooding situation.
The level of the sea is expected to rise to about 2.45 metres from Thursday to Monday, though the embankments along Chao Phraya are 2.5m high.
Though strong winds are also expected to affect the rising tide, Royol said, “the situation should not be too bad. Some areas will be affected by the rising tide but not too much.”
Uthen Chartpinyo, chief of the Flood Relief Operation Centre’s panel that is tasked with draining the flood waters, said rising sea levels could slow down their job.
Royol said his panel had advised officials to block run-offs from Bang Sai area from flowing into the Chao Phraya during the high tide.
The upper part of Bangkok has about 6 billion cubic metres of flood water, with the authorities being able to drain nearly 400 million cubic metres per day. Royol believes that it will take about three or four weeks to drain all the water out, though there will be more run-offs from Pichit and Nakhon Sawan.
“Personally, I think the situation will get back to normal by mid November and we can start restoration work,” Royol said.
Meanwhile, Chaiyaporn Siripornpaiboon, deputy director of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s Water Resources Department, said that all areas in inner Bangkok, be they inside or outside the city’s permanent embankment, were at risk because the barriers were not strong or efficient in all spots. He said the water pressure was approximately one tonne per square meter, and if high tide caused Chao Phraya River to swell to 3 metres, the pressure would be trebled. Thus, even if the embankment does not collapse, the water might still seep through. Hence, he said, people living along the Chao Phraya should be prepared.
