Phetchaburi residents are breathing a sigh of relief after seeing water levels recede gradually after the worst flooding in years, but the weather forecast could give them new worries.
The water level in the municipality and surrounding areas of Muang district has been ebbing since noon on Friday after Phetchaburi River overflowed following heavy rains that hit the province early in the week.
At least 24 pumps of the Royal Irrigation Department and the municipal office are running around the clock to drain water from the business and residential district into the river, while the Phet dam in Tha Yang district is discharging less water from the river to locations dowstream.
Many roads on low ground in the municipality remained flooded as it was taking more time to drain water from the area, Phetchaburi governor Chattraporn Ratdusdee said on Friday. All flooded communities should be dry within a week, she added.
People in Phetchaburi said the flooding was the worst in recent years.
"The water came faster and higher than in the big flood in 2003," said Thongchue Permsuk, 70, of tambon Nong Sanoh in Muang district, where the water level was still high on Friday.
Saman Kerdsa, the deputy chairman of the Nong Sanoh Tambon Administration Organisation, said the flash flood caught him off guard. "There was no way to block or slow down the water," he said.
There was no sign of rains in the province on Friday, according to the Meteorological Department, but the agency cautioned in its latest forecast that more than half of the province should brace for the prospect of more rain over the next seven days.