Flooding still afflicts 4 northeastern provinces

Flooding still afflicts 4 northeastern provinces

Volunteers are leaving for flood victims in Ubon Ratchathani province on Sunday. (Photo from Portep Khamsa in UbonWanNi Facebook page)
Volunteers are leaving for flood victims in Ubon Ratchathani province on Sunday. (Photo from Portep Khamsa in UbonWanNi Facebook page)

Severe floods remain in the four northeastern provinces of Roi Et, Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Yasothon, and about 24,000 residents have been evacuated.

Chayaphol Thitisak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, updated the flooding report on Sunday. He said 24,235 people have been evacuated from severely flooded areas in Roi Et, Ubon Ratchathani and Yasothon.

Concerned organisations mobilised manpower and equipment -- including pumps and water propellers -- to speed up drainage and were handing out food, drinking water and necessary consumer products to victims, he said.

Since late last month, floods have hit 32 provinces, mostly in the North and the Northeast, affected about 418,000 families, and killed 32 people, Mr Chayaphol said.

The biggest concern was Ubon Ratchathani, where floodwater from other northeastern provinces was gushing in.

Thaweesak Thanadechophol, deputy director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department, said reduction in reservoir discharges in the Northeast was lowering flood levels in Ubon Ratchathani by one centimetre per hour.

Without additional rain, local residents earlier evacuated from flooded areas in the province should be able to return home in 4-5 days and streams and rivers should stop overflowing by the end of this month, he said. Officials were operating 260 water propellers to speed up flood drainage.

Mr Thaweesak also said that his department had started to withhold water in the Chao Phraya river basin to save water for the dry season.

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