Flooding hits roads, houses
More warnings issued and more rain expected
POST REPORTERS
Traffic on the Mittraphap highway linking the central and northeastern provinces was crippled yesterday as flood water cut off sections of roads in Nakhon Ratchasima and Saraburi. It has been raining heavily in the provinces since Wednesday, triggering widespread floods, which are likely to last a few more days as more rain is expected.
Motorists using Mittraphap road in Nakhon Ratchasima were forced to use the Old Mittraphap road instead as flood waters cut off the main road in Pak Chong district. A one-kilometre stretch is inundated, across both the inbound and outbound lanes.
Provincial governor Suthee Boonmark yesterday told disaster relief and traffic workers to try to drain the water to ease traffic problems.
Rescue staff were sent to search for Vinai Meesuk, a 32-year-old security guard who was swept away by water while on his way to work at a construction site in Pak Chong district yesterday.
In neighbouring Saraburi province, heavy rain also inundated the Mittraphap road. The water is about one metre deep, preventing motorists from entering the city centre.
The flood caused a traffic jam stretching at least 2km along the Mittraphap highway.
In Lop Buri, more than 20,000 families in six districts have been affected by water run-off from the mountains. Four houses were destroyed while a man was swept away in a strong current as he rode a motorcycle.
Two main roads were submerged, 10 schools closed and thousands of rai of farmland were underwater.
Residents living downstream on the Pasak river have been told to brace for possible floods as authorities started releasing water from the Pasak Jolasid dam.
All six gates of the dam were opened yesterday to speed up water drainage, causing levels downstream to rise rapidly.
''People living along the river banks in Tha Rua, Nakhon Luang and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya districts could be hit by the river overflowing. Large amounts of water will be released from the dam for several days to ease flooding in upstream provinces,'' said Ayutthaya governor Preecha Kamolbutr.
In Prachin Buri, run-off from Khao Yai national park covered a bridge linking an industrial estate in Kabin Buri district and Buphram village.
More than 20 workers were trapped inside the industrial estate as they could not cross the bridge to get home. Boats were sent in to transport the workers.
The Meteorological Department yesterday issued flood warnings in 26 provinces. The department said heavy rain is predicted over the next few days in these provinces as an active low pressure system over the lower north and the central provinces will move towards Burma, while a strong southwest monsoon remains over the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf.
Flood-prone provinces include Tak, Phichit, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Loei, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Lop Buri, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Kanchanaburi, Suphan Buri, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo, Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi and Trat.
Bangkok Post Sept. 13, 2008