BMA needs better flood warning system: Anupong

He was speaking after a meeting with soldiers, police and state agencies under his ministry as well as governors of provinces in the vicinity of Bangkok.
“We found that the problem is the city administration failed to effectively warn people not to head for flooded spots, which had traffic backed up in 36 spots across the city,” he explained.
In order to develop a good warning system, the BMA should gather all available information about the flood situation by 3am daily and share this with Bangkok residents by 5am so they can avoid flooded roads.
“People should turn on the TV or radio or visit websites to get an update on floods before they leave home in the morning,” he said.
However, Anupong commended the BMA for its performance in response to the two flooding incidents over the past week.
“We must admit that the BMA did its best in draining Bangkok roads despite the heavy rain. The only problem was it did not inform people. Residents cannot accept that they were not warned and ended up getting stuck in the flood,” he said.
He added that he had also learned that none of the water pumps in Bangkok were out of order and also there were no power blackouts.
“If roads get flooded with a little rain, it means the water pumps are out of order, and then city officials have to be blamed,” he said.
Anupong added that his ministry would have military and police units ready to help motorists.
“If the BMA knows it cannot drain flooded roads by 5am, then it should block these roads to motorists. If needed, we can provide boats for people to get around,’’ he said.