Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao worst hit by floods
Prachin Buri and Chachoengsao are the two provinces most affected by the current flooding, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD) said.
Both provinces are severely inundated, DPMD director-general Chatchai Phromlert said yesterday.
“Flooding has also hit 20 other provinces, but their situations are less serious,” he said.
Prachin Buri has been flooded for more than one month, with runoff water from the province now inundating neighbouring Chachoengsao. Several roads in the provinces are underwater.
Authorities have admitted it will be hard to drain floodwater from these two provinces in the face of the ongoing high tide in the Gulf of Thailand. The rising seawater level makes it difficult to push the water out to the Gulf via the Bang Pakong River – the provinces’ main water-drainage channel.
Chatchai said seven other provinces – Chon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok, Ubon Ratchathani, Buri Ram, Khon Kaen and Ayutthaya – were experiencing medium-level flooding.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, officials at the Phimai National Museum were busy wrapping valuable exhibits in plastic as the floodwater level rose. The water level there was above 40 centimetres as of press time yesterday.
Chatchai said minor flooding had also been reported in Chaiyaphum, Si Sa Ket, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Phetchaburi, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Saraburi, Lop Buri and Angthong.
“During the past two months, 25 other provinces have seen flooding, but the situations there have already returned to normal,” he said.
Since September 17, floods have ravaged more than 3.5 million rai of farmland, damaged 31,523 houses and killed 76 people.
According to the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), the inundation has damaged over 300 schools.
“We will request Bt200 million for repairs,” Obec secretary-general Apichart Jeerawuth said yesterday.
He said the latest survey of flood-ravaged schools did not cover Prachin Buri and Chachoengsao, as the flooding there was too severe to permit it.
In a related development, heavy downpours have caused flash floods in some villages in Lampang’s Muang Pan district.
“Rainfall is over 100 millimetres. More than 100 houses are flooded,” said Ban Khor Tambon Administrative Organisation chief executive Somboon Kachapanya.
Local people were moving their belongings to higher ground due to the continuing downpours, Somboon said.
