Evacuation orders and snake defences as floods rise in northern Thailand
Authorities in the North have issued evacuation orders after days of heavy rain caused rivers and reservoirs to overflow, flooding low-lying communities and farmland.
In Chiang Rai, mountain runoff caused the Chan River to overflow and submerge at least eight villages in Mae Chan district. The Chan-Mae Ai highway is also under 30 centimetres of floodwater, the province reported on Monday.
Provincial governor Puttipong Sirimat ordered local officials to help villagers evacuate the elderly and disabled to higher ground. He also ordered repairs to a steel bridge damaged by floodwater in Huai Ya No, cutting off access to the village.
Nan on Monday morning reported one-metre-deep flooding on a section of Highway 101, which connects the province to neighbouring Phrae province. As of press time, the water level on the road was down to 30cm and traffic was moving slowly in both inbound and outbound lanes.
The province also reported several mudslides in Wiang Sa district, bringing down trees and electricity poles and blocking roads. There were no reports of injuries or deaths as of press time.
Phitsanulok officials on Monday delivered survival kits and other necessities to more than 300 households in Wang Thong district, which has been flooded since last weekend. The district’s main road, Highway 12, is still under 30-50cm of water and impassable for small vehicles.
Officials have deployed water pumps in Wang Thong’s commercial area and predict the flood will subside by Monday evening if there is no more rain.
In Phichit’s Pho Prathap Chang district, villagers are erecting fishing nets around first-storey windows to keep out snakes seeking shelter from the flood.
Villager Rangsan Klomjit said on Monday that he had already caught one cobra in his protective fishing net this year, adding that he caught 13 during last year’s floods.
The Yom River burst its banks following continuous rain on Saturday, flooding some 600 households in the four Phichit districts of Sam Ngam, Pho Prathap Chang, Bueng Narang and Bang Mun Nak.
On Monday, the Yom water level had risen 11cm in 24 hours to 5.38 metres, sending more floodwater gushing into riverside communities.
Some 580 rai of Phichit rice fields – roughly the size of 230 football pitches – have been flooded.
