Communities warned to brace for possible disaster from flooding, landslides
Communities and a host of government agencies have already been urged to cope with possible flash floods and surface water runoffs due to tropical storm Mulan, Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said on Thursday.
His statement came after the Thailand Meteorological Department announced on Wednesday that the storm would bring isolated heavy to very heavy rains across the North, the Northeast and the East from August 11-13.
Anupong said the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation had warned people and related agencies to be ready for possible disasters, especially those in areas at risk of flooding and landslides.
The department has already checked the condition of warning towers nationwide, he said.
“We don’t want to see anyone suffer. We will assist them as soon as possible if a disaster occurs,” he promised.
Anupong said he also does not want to see Thailand hit by flooding similar to South Korea, which is seeing its worst inundation in 115 years.
The minister hoped Thailand would not see a repeat of the disastrous 2011 floods.
Widespread flooding triggered by tropical storm Nock-ten at the end of July 2011 spread across a majority of northern, northeastern and central Thailand provinces, especially those along the Mekong and Chao Phraya rivers.
In October that year, floodwaters from the North reached the mouth of the Chao Phraya and went on to inundate several parts of the capital.
The floods persisted in some areas even until the middle of January 2012, resulting in 815 deaths, three missing and 13.6 million people affected.
Meanwhile, 65 of 76 provinces were declared flood disaster zones, and more than 20,000 square kilometres of farmland were damaged.