More misery for southerners

TORRENTIAL rain and flooding continue to ravage the South, affecting tens of thousands of people and disrupting transport, including flights, while six people have been killed during the crisis, officials at the Interior Ministry reported yesterday.
The ministry set up a national disaster “front command” at the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD)’s 11th and 12th branch offices, with deputy permanent secretary Prayoon Rattanasenee as area chief to coordinate help for flood victims and support emergency operations.
Nakhon Si Thammarat – among five critically flooded provinces – was hit with a record-breaking 600 millimetres of rain in 24 hours on Thursday in Pak Phanang district, while the airport area had nearly 400mm, Meteorological Department chief Wanchai Sakudomchai said.
But the heavy rain in the lower South was expected to cease tomorrow, he said, although the region faces more downpours on January 16-17.
As floodwater receded in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla, the situation remain critical for Phatthalung, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Chumphon.
According to the DPMD report on flood damage since January 1, a total of 72,337 households in Nakhon Si Thammarat, 29,535 families in Narathiwat, 29,327 households in Phatthalung, and 7,824 households in Trang were affected. Another 4,986 households in Yala, 4,793 families in Songkhla, 500 families in Chumphon, plus 111 villages in Pattani and 116 villages in Surat Thani have been hit.
The six flood deaths occurred in Songkhla, Narathiwat and Nakhon Si Thammarat, which each had two, DPMD chief Chatchai Phromlert said.
A search continued for a 14-year-old schoolboy swept away on Thursday by floodwater while riding a motorcycle through a flood in Phatthalung’s Khao Chai Son district.
The Education Ministry reported 1,096 schools in the region were closed due to floods, while Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani Campus postponed its semester 2 opening date from January 9 to January 16.
The Nakhon Si Thammarat International Airport suspended operations from yesterday morning till midnight tonight after its runways were partially flooded, Airports Department chief Darun Saengchai said in a statement yesterday. The department instructed airlines to inform passengers and pay refunds. Some airlines transferred passengers via bus to nearby airports in Surat Thani, Hat Yai and Phuket, the statement said.
The DPMD said 44 roads in six provinces were flooded – 23 of which were impassable for traffic and had no alternative route, while available five southbound trains from Bangkok could go no further than Chumphon.
Many people also demanded ticket refunds at Trang Rail Station yesterday as all services were suspended till the floodwaters on Thung Song rail tracks eases. Public transport vans in Trang were also suspended, affecting many travellers.
The Highways Department’s fourth bridge construction and restoration centre, meanwhile, installed a “Bailey” portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge at two spots damaged by floods on Highway No 41; the 106th kilometre marker in Surat Thani and the 308th kilometre marker in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order spokesman, Colonel Piyapong Klinpan, said provincial governors and related agencies were integrating well in aiding flood victims.
Dr Sopon Mekthon, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry, said 10 medical emergency response teams were dispatched to help flood victims in difficult-to-access areas, while 200,000 sets of medicine and medical supplies were sent to nine provinces where 102 hospitals and health stations were affected, although most could still provide some services. Some 66 health facilities were on a close watch, he said.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat alone, 37 hospitals were affected, with Cha-uat Hospital having to evacuate eight seriously ill patients, plus 40 general patients to the provincial hospital.
National Disaster Warning Centre director Chayasarn Tonanon said the rains were seasonal falls that usually occur in December and January. They should stop by tomorrow. He said the floods were draining slowly into sea because of development – roads blocking waterways and flood-retention areas that were converted into estates.

Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute director Royol Chitradon, however, said heavy rain in the South was not from the monsoon, but high temperatures had caused the level of the Gulf to rise by 10 per cent. A low pressure system hovering over the region had also caused rains as well as strong winds in the Gulf and Andaman.
He said the Navy had sent 50 flow thruster ships to help drain the Cha-uat Canal, which was brimming in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Some flooded parts of Surat Thani improved late yesterday, but officials were braced for another deluge from upstream Nakhon Si Thammarat while Chaiya and Tha Chana districts also watched out for seasonal sea inflows.
In Trang’s Huay Yot district, Le Khaokob Cave attraction has been closed indefinitely since Wednesday.

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