Monsoon brings cold, floods from north to south
Bangkok weather will be cooler by 2-3 degrees Celsius until tomorrow, while the North and Northeast will have cool to cold weather, the influence of active high pressure from China, the Meteorological Department reported yesterday.
The strong northeast monsoon over the Gulf and the South caused downpours, which led to flooding in many southern areas.
Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son have declared their 17 districts as cold weather disaster zones, affecting 400,000 people.
The North will see the mercury drop by 4-6C until December 28, down to 10-15C. So far, 31,020 blankets have been sent to residents at risk in Chiang Mai, Lampang, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son – but many more were needed.
The shirtless body of construction worker Banchon Thaisamran, who had a chronic illness, was found dead from heart failure induced by chilly weather yesterday in Chanthaburi’s Muang district.
Officials at Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Region 12 opened a centre yesterday to deal with flood and mudslide disasters in five southern provinces – Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Satun – until January 2013.
Over 2,000 families and 5,000 rai of farmland in Phattalung’s Muang, Khao Chai Son, Sri Nakarin, and Pa Payom districts were hit by a 30cm-deep flood after days of downpours. Officials were digging drainage channels to release the water into Songkhla Lake.
In Narathiwat, where 500 fishing boats were kept ashore by strong wind-driven high waves, seven districts (Sri Sakorn, Chanae, Sungai Padi, Sungai Kolok, Tak Bai, Waeng and Yi Ngo) were flooded after continuous heavy rain since December 13. Three-metre waves also eroded a 2km-long section of Narathat Beach.
In Satun, 18 houses in Kuan Kalong district and five homes in Muang district had roof tiles ripped off by gusty winds at 2am yesterday but nobody was injured. Yala’s Bannang Sata district also suffered from strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday night. A section of a living room at Suthalai Palace was damaged by a 40-metre, 50-year-old tree that was blown over.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, massive seawater inflows flooded Laem Talumpuk in Pak Phanang district yesterday morning while forest runoff from Khao Luang mountain range flooded many areas in Si Chon district, sweeping away three temporary bridges and marooning three villages. Muang district man Ampol Cheusaman, 48, drowned in a canal. The province also warned people of possible mudslides in Nop Pitam, Si Chon and Ron Pibul districts
