Phetchaburi sees hundreds evacuated by flat-bottom boats
FLOODING in Phetchaburi province continued on Thuesday with a large stretch of Phetkasem Highway’s Bangkok-bound and southbound lanes, under deep water, forcing motorists to slow down as they moved to the two innermost lanes with shallower water.
Schools in the heart of Muang district would close on Thuesday until Monday, the authorities said.
After the Phetchaburi River burst its banks and flooded the downtown area late Wednesday night, the downtown roads were under 20 to 30 centimetres of water at 7am – with some patches up to 1.5 metres deep later in the afternoon.
Some 500 homes in Tambon Ton Mamoung in Muang district were inundated with deep water, prompting soldiers and police – along with rescue workers – to dispatch flat-bottom boats to aid evacuation of many residents especially the elderly and children and hand out emergency relief bags.
Water release at the Phetchaburi Dam has been lowered to 254.51 cubic metres per second.
In Trang, provincial governor Siripat Patkul issued a warning for riverside and hillside residents to brace for heavy rains, possible floods and landslides on Thuesday until next Tuesday, while officials were told to monitor the situation and prepare equipment and manpower to quickly aid those affected.
Nearly all of the 50 fishing trawlers in Songkhla have been kept tied up ashore following warnings from the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) about strong winds and up to 3-metre-high waves on Thuesday until next Monday. Only two trawlers were spotted delivering fish at the fish market.
TMD on Thuesday issued a forecast warning of intervals of heavy downpours for much of Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat until next Monday.
