Flooding swamps Phuket’s Old Town again
Phuket’s Old Town was hit by floods again on Thursday due to overflows from the Bangyai Canal that receives water from Kathu district before it’s channelled into the sea at Saphan Hin peninsular in Muang district.
The Old Town was submerged under a metre of floodwater last Sunday after heavy overnight rain.
On Wednesday afternoon provincial Governor Narong Woonciew reported that the flood situation in the area was actually easing after three days of high water levels.
On Wednesday night, however, overflows from the canal flooded the Old Town’s roads, namely Phang Nga, Rassada and Thalang, with 20-50cm high water, affecting several residential and commercial buildings.
Officials had to block roads and divert traffic away from flooded areas to prevent accidents and vehicle malfunctions. Pumps were installed to speed up water drainage to keep floodwaters from rising and prevent a repeat of Sunday’s flooding should there be more heavy rain.
On Wednesday Narong and his team inspected Kathu-Patong Highway 4029, which has been cut off about 200 metres by a mud slide due to heavy showers since Sunday.
The governor said he is cooperating with the Phuket District Highway Office, which promised to restore traffic to normal within seven days – provided there is no more heavy rain or mud slides that could affect roadwork.
In the meantime, motorists heading to Patong subdistrict are advised to use highways 4028, 4025 or 4030 to bypass the mud slide.
