FLOODS & LANDSLIDES

Floods, landslides in South

Yala residents started cleaning up their flood-hit homes on Wednesday as the water receded and Nakhon Si Thammarat airport reopened, following days of heavy rain brought by storms pummeling the South.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department chief Wiboon Sanguangpong said heavy rain and flash flooding had wreaked havoc in nine southern provinces since Dec 31, but the situation was abating.

In Yala, life began returning to normal today as almost all of the flood-affected areas in the province have dried out. Only a few low-lying spots remained under water, reports said.

Continuous heavy rain has caused the Pattani and Sai Buri rivers passing through the province to overflow and flood many areas since Saturday.

The floods battered six of Yala's eight districts affecting almost 52,000 people and claimed the life of nine-year-old Sareeta Sa-u, who drowned.

Students are cleaning up their flood-affected school in Yala province on Jan 4, 2012. (Photo by Muhammad Ayub Patan)

In tambon Tha Thong of Raman district, teachers and students at Ja Rang Ta Dong school, which had been under two metres of floodwater since Saturday, started cleaning their classrooms before the school reopens tomorrow.

The school has been flooded every year during the monsoon season, but this time the flooding was the worst, school director Muhammad Masukee Yee-heng said.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a landslide in Ron Phibun district has blocked off a village and a school, a community of more than 1,000 people.

Earth and rocks began to fall from the mountain about block form a road to Ban Khao Wang in tambon Hin Tok  about noon today.

The landslide broke four power poles, cutting electricity to the village and the school.

Taweeson Boonphon, the headman of village No 12 of tambon Hin Tok, said the landslide followed three days of heavy rain.

Nakhon Si Thammarat deputy governor Songpol Sawamitham went to the scene to direct assistance to the villagers.

Meanwhile, authorities have rescued more than 70 tourists who were stranded at a canal-side resort in Lan Saka district yesterday due to rising tides and strong currents.

Civil Aviation Department chief Woradet Hanprasert said Nakhon Si Thammarat airport has reopened for airline services after having suspending all flights due to the bad weather.    

Mr Woradet said the heavy rain had caused major flooding and he had ordered a study of the possibility of building of an earth dyke around the airport, which spreads over more than 1,000 rai, for flood prevention.

The construction cost was expected to be around 500 million baht, which would be sought from the 2013 budget, he said.

Air Asia, which operates low-cost air services, announced that all its flights connecting Bangkok and the southern provinces of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Hat Yai, Krabi, Phuket and Narathiwat were still operating as usual.

The road to Nakhon Si Thammarat airport this morning was about 40 centimetres under water and not passable to small vehicles. At the airport's request, the military had sent big trucks to take air passengers to and from the airport.

The meteorological office of the eastern coast of the South today issued a warning for the people on the eastern coast of the South from Nakhon Si Thammarat downward to watch for widespread and heavy rain on Jan 5 to 6 as a result of a new pressure system from China which today covered the upper part of the country.

Waves in the Gulf of Thailand were expected to be two to three metres high and small boats should remain ashore during Jan 6 to 8, the office said.

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the Army Region 4 will set up a flood relief centre in the South, as assigned by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Gen Prayuth said he had ordered the soldiers to go to the most affected areas as quickly as possible to help the flood victims.

(Bangkok Post)

An Bường dẫn lại

04/01/2012