Deluge situation 'will improve in a week'

However the big bag barrier on the eastern side should not be totally dismantled yet as 30 million cubic meters of floodwaters were still behind it. The city must manage it as a weir and control the flow to prevent the risk of inner Bangkok flooding.
The problem now was convincing disgruntled flood victims, he said.
After December 1, the November 26-28 peak tide would have passed, the sea level would be low, the discharge from the Chao Phraya dams would slow from 1,700 cubic meters per second to 1,200, all canals wouldn’t overflow and Ayutthaya roads would emerge.
As irrigation officials could drain water normally, sluice gates at main canals could be opened and floodwaters would recede fast.
The level of Rangsit Canal was dropping by 3-4 centimetres a day, so there would be no overflow from the canal to the areas behind the big bag barrier after November 30 and the floodwaters in Don Muang could be drained through this canal. However the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration was the one to tell exactly when the area would be dry because no one knows how much water the city could drain through the Song, Bang Bua and Prem Prachakorn canals per day.
Such capacity details should be revealed so officials could negotiate with the affected communities, he added.
Chalit Damrongsak said the Irrigation Department, while straightening floodwalls and installing pumps from flooded areas, still needed many sandbags to tackle floods especially in Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi.
 People could donate them at the department’s office in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kred district. Central Group has already given 20,000 sandbags to the department, he added.