Heavy rain warning for Thailand regions

[Admin]

Heavy rain warning for Thailand regions 
Bangkok Post: 5 Oct 2010
Heavy rains cause havoc in border provinces

Weather officials are warning people in the central, eastern and upper southern regions to brace for flash floods as heavy rains continue to wreak havoc in provinces bordering Burma.

People in Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan have been warned of potential flooding.

Torsak Wanitkhachorn, a deputy chief of the Meteorological Department, said widespread rainfall covering many parts of the country was caused by a depression located yesterday about 200km east of Mukdahan in the Northeast.

The downpours have caused flash floods in many areas, particularly in Ratchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi, which share a border with Burma.

Forty tourists were stranded on Sunday night in Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district at a hillside resort after a bridge was damaged by torrential streams.

Local Red Cross officials had to set up a wire sling across the Lam Pha Chi River to transport food and drinking water to the group at Country Hill Resort yesterday morning.

The group was rescued later in the day.

The floods also affected other tourist resorts and homes in the district.

Several residential and farming areas were also submerged in Pak Tho district, in the same province.

Ratchaburi provincial administration declared eight tambons of the district a disaster zone and was accelerating rescue operations there.

In nearby Kanchanaburi, the overflow from the Lam Pha Chi River from Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district flooded several areas of Dan Makhamtei district.

About 200 houses and 3,000 rai of farmland were inundated.

In Muang district of Kanchanaburi, 100 houses and about 5km of railway is under water because of the rains. The train service was disrupted temporarily as a result.

In Phetchaburi, Tha Yang, Ban Lat, and Muang districts were yesterday under half a metre of water. Phetkasem Highway, the main road linking Bangkok with the southern region, was also flooded and open only to large vehicles.

The local highway office yesterday decided to break up the concrete barrier in the middle of the highway to allow the flood water to drain into the sea.

Weather forecasters said the flooding would continue today.

The meteorologists predicted cooler weather later this month.

A cold spell is expected to reach Thailand and affect temperatures from Oct 23. This would cause a drop in the temperature to 16C to 18C - about half a degree to one degree lower than that for the same period last year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/199690/thousands-brace-for-flash-floods