Waters subside in 3 provinces, others still critical

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Waters subside in 3 provinces, others still critical
By The Nation
2011-04-06

Flood waters in Narathiwat, Phang Nga and Satun have subsided while the situation in all other flooded provinces in the South remains critical, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported yesterday.

Damage assessments are underway in the three provinces before restoration follows, an official DPMD update said.

Trains are running down to Chiya Station in hardhit Surat Thani, as are buses from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport opened yesterday after repairs to landing systems, the runway and taxiway lighting were completed. The damage to the airport was estimated at about Bt50 million.

The danger of landslides and falling rocks is still high elsewhere in both provinces as well as in Trang and Chumphon. Residents whose homes are at the foot of hills were advised to remain in shelters.

In Krabi, a hill in Muang district cracked and partially collapsed, sending rocks and debris to block a road 300 metres away from a school and community. Two residents said villagers were running away or moving out their belongings in panic when the cracks appeared, creating a loud noise.

Residents living closest to the piles of debris later left their homes, and the provincial relief office said the fissures could widen or result in further collapses if there was heavy rain coming.

The fatalities in the Public Health Ministry report had increased to 53, and the number of people becoming ill to more than 40,000. Of the more than 400 people undergoing psychological counselling, 43 are under extreme stress while 38 are considered suicidal. One of those drowning was publichealth volunteer Somjai Waroros, whose family was given Bt10,000 in initial aid.

Mobile medical teams from Bangkok and other regions have been sent to all eight flooded provinces in the South, where most government hospitals and clinics reopened, except 17 clinics in Surat Thani.

The waters around Tha Chang General Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat had receded, but service could not yet begin.

Assessments of publichealth situations and disease outbreaks could soon begin, the ministry said.

Donations to the government's ad hoc relief centre had been announced as Bt110 million, but Bt27 million was actually received.

Wittayen Muttamara, deputy director of the centre, claimed that many donors changed their minds after phoning in to live television programmes, or scaled back their pledges.