Thunderstorms hammer Chiang Rai, 1,000 houses damaged
Thunderstorms and hail pounded 16 districts of Chiang Rai late Monday night, damaging around 1,000 houses.
Paithoon Nakthae, director of the province’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said reports were received of blackouts in 30 villages in five districts as utility poles were knocked over and tree branches snapped power lines.
All of Mae Fah Luang district was without electricity when storms raked 12 villages in four tambon.
Paithoon said hail fell on Mae Saruay district for half an hour, damaging houses, longan orchards and pumpkin gardens and blocking roads with fallen trees.
In Muang district, a broken power cable resulted in a short circuit and brief fire, and a house caught fire after being struck by lightning.
In Mae Sai district, trees fell against a district hospital’s exterior wall.
Chiang Saen district was blacked out for 30 minutes and Wieng Kaen had power outages in several areas.