Phrae declared disaster zone after strong floods

Phrae declared disaster zone after strong floods

Homes, supply lines, public services hit hard

PHRAE : Authorities declared Phrae a disaster zone after parts of it were badly hit by flash floods and forest run off.

A flash flood has washed away part of a road in tambon Huay Or in Phrae’s Long district. A bridge, and railway tracks have also been swept away by strong forest runoff. THAWEESAK SUKKHASEM

Three days of heavy rain flooded hundreds of residents' homes, cut off supply lines and crippled public services.

Three Long district tambons _ Ban Pin, Huay Or and Hua Thung _ were hit hard by floods during pre-dawn hours yesterday, with 400 families affected.

In tambon Ban Pin flash floods and forest run off cut off a 15 metre long section of railway and inundated hundreds of villagers' homes.

A local train service from Den Chai station to the North was halted yesterday as railroad staff checked bridges and tunnels in the area for damage.

About 1,000 rai of corn plantations and rice fields were also submerged in 1-1.5 metres of water.

In tambon Huay Or, forest run off had swollen the Huay Mae Kiam canal to the point of overflowing its banks into Moo 3 village, killing hundreds of villagers' livestock animals.

Many fish in ponds were also swept away during the deluge.

A 20m-long bridge connecting Ban Mae Kiam and Ban Mae Chong Fai in the tambon collapsed and a 30m section of Wat Salang road was badly damaged during the flash floods.

In tambon Hua Thung, forest runoff in Huay Yab canal flowed over into a temple and hit hundreds of homes.

The floods destroyed two bridges in the area.

Kasem Watthanatham, Phrae governor, ordered his staff to provide immediate help to flood victims.

Mr Kasem said Phrae faced flooding every year but this year's flood was much worse than anything the province had experienced in previous years.

He said the authorities had neither inspected the damage, nor assured those affected by the floods that they were entitled to compensation.

Meanwhile, His Majesty the King delivered disaster relief packages via the army to flood victims in Ranong province yesterday.

Ranong was badly hit by floods about a week ago, following heavy monsoon rains, affecting thousands of families.

The Meteorogical Department yesterday warned residents in high-risk areas in the North, the upper Northeast and the South to be on alert for possible flooding.

It also said that all ships in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand should proceed with caution and small boats should remain ashore over the next few days.

The department said the monsoon lies across Myanmar and upper Laos while an active southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand.

Scattered to fairly widespread thundershowers and isolated heavy rain are likely across all of Thailand.

Waves between two and three metres high are likely in the Andaman Sea and the upper Gulf of Thailand.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (7)