The search continued yesterday for two teenage boys missing since a flood swept away a jeep they were travelling in on Tuesday night, with four more districts of Songkhla expected to be declared disaster zones as the annual monsoon continues to devastate the far South.
Amnart Polmart, chief of the Songkhla disaster prevention and mitigation office, said yesterday he would recommend the provincial governor also declare the Muang, Singha Nakhon, Bang Klam and Ranot districts flood disaster zones.
He said they were inundated with flooding from Songkhla lake, made worse by the high tides in the Gulf of Thailand.
Eight of the 16 districts in Songkhla have already been declared disaster zones: Hat Yai, Sadao, Rattaphum, Khuan Niang, Chana, Thepha, Na Thawi and Sabai Yoi.
In Thephla district, two youths — Suhaimee Hamakhajorn, 18, and Mawin Isama-al, 13 — were reported missing after a jeep they were travelling in was carried off in a flash flood. The search was to continue today.
The Hat Yai municipality disaster prevention and mitigation centre yesterday said most areas in the city's downtown were still at "green flag", meaning the situation was normal.
However, eight communities were at risk of flooding.
Those communities are along the U-Tapao canal and the municipality's drainage canals.
The municipality has told residents there to monitor the flood situation.
Hat Yai mayor Prai Pattano said his municipality is coping. He also warned eight communities along the U-Tapao canal and Drainage Canal No.1 in Hat Yai of potential risks.
Meanwhile, strong winds and high waves battered Laem Samila, knocking down several pine trees along the beach yesterday.
Authorities posted signs warning tourists not to swim at Samila cape beach, Songkhla's major attraction. Strong winds and high waves have damaged the shoreline, despite the wall of sandbags, which was unable to resist them.
In Surat Thani, ferry piers in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan were hit by waves higher than 3 metres, forcing Don Sak-Koh Samui ferry temporarily out of service.
Prawet Supachai, the marine chief of Surat Thani, asked ferry operators to stop the ferry service as waves reached higher than 5m yesterday, according to the Meteorological Department.
In Trang, floodwater expanded to several areas.
Over 1,000 households in four districts — Muang Trang, Na Yong, Huai Yot and Ratsada — are submerged due to persistent rainfall. Water levels have ranged between 20cm and 1m, while in flood-prone areas water level rose to 1.5m.