Plodprasob apologies to Sukhothai residents, as floodwaters stabilise
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Flood management chairman Plodprasob Suraswadi on Tuesday apologised to Sukhothai residents affected by the floods, saying he was unaware of the cracks under a cement barrier, which allowed water to flow into the town.
Plodprasob, chairman of the Water and Flood Management Commission, said that the flooding in Sukhothai’s municipal area is now stable and the inundation is expected to die down within a couple of days.
Floodwaters in the province continued to rise Monday night as the provincial authorities kept working to fill gaps in flood barriers and slow down the water flowing into the city from the Yom River.
Several agencies joined forces to place onetonne rock and sand bags to reinforce the prevention embankment, which was eroded by floodwaters leaving a 10 metre gap.
Local authorities are gearing up to pump floodwater out of the provincial seat as the flood level has risen to 1.30 metres.
The local authorities are using boats to help affected people, and an evacuation centre has been set up at the Institute of Physical Education Sukhothai Campus.
Plodprasob said the water seeped through cracks at the bottom of the barriers, which were built in 2001.
He dismissed reports that the flood in the province was the result of the government’s water drainage test conducted last week, saying the sluice at Rapeepat Canal was closed at the time and it was not possible that the water could run up north back to Ayutthaya.
In Phetchabun, flooding claimed one life, when a man drowned as he was checking the floodwater level in front of his house. Rescue workers spent an hour searching for his body.
The Ping River overflowed its banks to flood nine communities in the province’s Lom Sak municipality.
About 1,000 households have been affected and the main roads linking villages are under half a metre of water, forcing villagers to travel by boat.
