BANGKOK, Sept 26, (TGMN/NET) : Bangkok authorities declared a flood
disaster across the Thai capital on Saturday after almost 48 hours of heavy
rain left homes, shops and roads waterlogged and residents wading through
deep water.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cut short a trip to London to return home
almost 300 millimetres (11.8 inches) of rain fell between Thursday
afternoon and Saturday morning, according to officials.
“The water keeps coming in. It’s hard to go out now. It’s like at my waist
level now,” said Somkid Pheuk-ngam, 67, a vendor who lives near a canal just
north of central Bangkok.
“I cannot go anywhere. I have been closing my shop for two days now,” she
told AFP.
Bangkok is no stranger to wet weather and September is the peak of the rainy
season, but several residents said it felt worse than usual.
“I feel like in all the many years I’ve lived here, I’ve never encountered
anything like this, where it rains continuously for days,” said 63-year-old
resident Anutin Meechamnan.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) declared a disaster for all the
city’s 50 districts, a move which gives local organisations special powers to
act.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Saturday afternoon that the
situation had “stabilised”, adding: “If more rainwater doesn’t fall in the
area, it will be solved.”
“If the rain stops, it is expected that it will take two to three days to
drain the floodwater,” he said in an update broadcast on social media.
– Temporary shelters –
Almost continuous rain since Thursday afternoon has swelled Bangkok’s network
of canals, sending murky water into surrounding homes, restaurants, shops and
alleyways.
“Our problem is that the canals are full,” Chadchart said.
“We are cooperating with nearby provinces and try to drain water out through
other sides, minimising the amount that flows into Bangkok.”
Once dubbed the “Venice of the East”, the city is built on former marshland
and rests about 1.5 metres (five feet) above sea level.
The BMA earlier said the city’s pumping stations were operating at full
capacity, pumping some 1,200 cubic meters per second combined.
AFP reporters saw residents wading or pushing their motorcycles through high
waters in several districts of eastern Bangkok, while on one major road,
parked cars were partially submerged.
In Bang Bua district, one woman tried to salvage goods from her shop as the
floodwaters came up to her thighs.
Khem Amnueilaph, an office worker who lives in Suan Luang district in eastern
Bangkok, said the water in his neighbourhood was “higher than knee level”.
“My house is new so it was elevated, but some old houses near by the water
have already flooded,” the 36-year-old told AFP by telephone.
“I have food in my stock for two to three days, but I may have to wade
through the floodwater for food later,” he said, adding: “I have no idea how
to get to work on Monday.”
– Empty shelves –
Some convenience stores had empty shelves by lunchtime as residents raced to
buy essentials.
Chadchart said at least 13 major roads were flooded but urged residents not
to worry potential food shortages, stressing: “The public don’t have to be
panicked.”
He said around 980 people were staying in temporary shelters, while
authorities had transferred 36 bedridden people to hospitals. The city has
also prepared one million sandbags.
September has been wetter than usual, according to figures from Bangkok’s
drainage and sewage department.
The capital recorded 487 mm of rain between September 1 and 25, compared to
an average of almost 269 mm for the same period from 1991 to 2020.
Scientists warn the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will
increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.
Flooding was also reported on Saturday across 21 provinces in Thailand, with
one fatality, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation.
It said more rain was expected into Sunday.
Widespread deluges across Thailand in 2011 killed more than 500 people and
damaged millions of homes.
