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Lat Krabang industrial estate remained dry during the great flood of 2011, but water from this year’s rainfall finally found a weakness in its defences. The breached earthen dyke has been repaired but a new one is clearly needed.

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A worker sits next to the nearly repaired section of the earthen dyke at Lat Krabang Industrial Estate that was breached on Saturday evening, allowing water from Khlong Taeng Mo to flow into the estate. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

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Rain, not run-off, finally breaks Lat Krabang’s defences

Now available at SE-ED and other major bookstores: Thailand submerged, the Bangkok Post's coverage of the Great Floods of 2011 with special help for English language learners, including vocabulary, Thai explanations and sound files.

Last year at this time, as flood waters from the north submerged huge industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani one after another, officials at Bangkok’s Lat Krabang estate kept a nervous watch, wondering if it would be next.

That never happened. While much of the neighbouring area was badly flooded, Lat Krabang stayed dry.

Thus, it was quite a surprise Saturday night when, with no northern run-off in sight, water from Khlong Lam Taeng Mo canal breached an earthen dyke and surged into the estate.

Water levels reached 30cm to 50cm in some parts of the estate after about five metres of the dyke ruptured.

The cause this time was the heavy rainfall over the past several weeks and the weakened state of the dyke.

Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who also heads the government's Water and Flood Management Commission, said the dyke gave way because it was too old.

Fortunately, no lasting damage was done and the dyke was quickly repaired. The flood water has been completely pumped out, Mr Plodprasop said.

Mr Plodprasop denied that the water was released from upstream areas or came from flooded fields.

The Royal Irrigation Department was siphoning water out of Khlong Taeng Mo and nearby Khlong Bueng Bua to reduce water levels in the canals.

Pumps were in action through much of yesterday, removing water from the estate. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

Verapong Chaiperm, governor of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, said the earthen dyke will be replaced with a concrete one. A contractor will be selected and the replacement is expected to be finished by May, he said.

Mr Verapong added workers will introduce other measures across Khlong Taeng Mo to slow down the flow of water.

Meanwhile, parts of 10 provinces are still flooded, with 179,074 people affected in 1,615 villages across 37 districts, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department announced yesterday.

Adapted from a story in today’s Bangkok Post

repair – to fix something that is broken or damaged ซ่อมบำรุง
section – any of the parts into which something is divided ส่วน, ส่วนย่อย
earthen – made of earth ซึ่งประกอบด้วยดิน
dyke – a wall built to prevent the sea, river of flood water from covering an area  คันกั้นน้ำ, เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ
industrial estate – an area of land where industrial companies have their buildings นิคมอุตสาหกรรม
breach – to break through or over something ข้าม, ทำให้แตก
flow – (of a liquid) to move continuously in one direction ไหล
run-off – rain, water or other liquid that runs off land into streams and rivers น้ำหลาก
submerge – to cause to be under water  ทำให้จมน้ำ ทำให้อยู่ใต้น้ำ
nervous – anxious about something or afraid of something กระวนกระวาย
wonder – to think about something because you want to know more facts or details about it สงสัย
neighbouring – located or living near or next to a place or person  ติดกัน, ที่อยู่ใกล้เคียง, ที่ตั้งอยู่ใกล้เคียง
thus – as a result of something just mentioned ดังนั้น
surge – to increase very quickly เพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
level – the amount of liquid that there is in a container, river, dam, etc., which can be seen by how high the liquid is ระดับ
rupture – to be broken or burst apart  แตก, ฉีกขาด, แตกออก,
state – condition สภาพ
commission – an official group of people who have been given responsibility to control something, or to find out about something, usually for the government  คณะกรรมการ, คณะกรรมาธิการ
give way – to break or fall down พัง, ล้มลง
fortunately – used for emphasizing that something good has happened, especially because of good luck  อย่างโชคดี, อย่างเคราะห์ดี
lasting – continuing to exist or have an effect for a long time ที่กินเวลานาน
repair – to fix something that is broken or damaged ซ่อมบำรุง
deny – to say that something is not true ปฏิเสธ
release – to allow a substance to flow out from somewhere ปล่อย
upstream –along a river or canal in the opposite direction to which it is flowing ต้นน้ำ
Royal Irrigation Department – The Thai government department in charge of the country's irrigation system กรมชลประทาน
siphon – to take water or something else away from ดูดออก
reduce – to make something smaller or less in amount, size, importance etc ลดลง
replace – to put a new thing in the place of something old เลิกใช้และนำสิ่งใหม่มาใช้แทน
contractor – a person or company whose job is to do work for another person, organisation, company, etc. ผู้รับเหมา
select – to choose  คัดเลือก
measure – an action taken to solve a particular problem มาตรการ
meanwhile – at the same time ในเวลาเดียวกัน
Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation – a department within the Ministry of the Interior in charge of making preparations for disasters, warning citizens of dangers and organising relief efforts when a disaster occurs กรมป้องกันและบรรเทาสาธารณภัย