Chiang Mai on high alert as Ping River threatens to overflow
Provincial authorities issue red alert for riverside communities as the river nears dangerous levels due to heavy upstream runoffs
Chiang Mai authorities have warned people living near the Ping River to brace themselves for heavy flooding as the river is expected to be overwhelmed with runoffs from upstream tributaries.
The Upper Northern Region Irrigation Hydrology Centre, based in Chiang Mai, issued a red alert at 11am on Thursday for residents in downtown Muang district to brace for the Ping River to break its bank.
The warning came after the river level at Nawarat Bridge rose to 3.91 metres at 11am from 3.70m just an hour earlier.
The centre and worried residents have closely monitoring the Ping River, which is already bloated with heavy rain.
The centre warned that the river was rising at about 10 centimetres or more per hour due to runoffs from tributaries in upper Mae Taeng and Mae Rim districts. Residents in downtown Chiang Mai were advised to move their valuables upstairs.
Though Muang Chiang Mai Municipality has raised the flood levee to 4.2m, it believes residents should be ready for heavy flooding because the river overflowed when its level hit the 4m mark late last month.
Shops, houses and a school along the river have put up sandbags for protection, and most locals said they already felt that the river would overflow, so they moved their valuables upstairs even before the warning was issued.
