NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Lam Phra Ploeng Dam is discharging excess water in large volumes, threatening to submerge the entire Ban Na Klang village, due to heavy rain. It has prompted an emergency evacuation of residents living there, according to a provincial authority alert yesterday.
Persistent heavy rainfall has compounded flooding in vast areas including Pak Thong Chai and Muang districts.
The inundation is a result of Tropical Storm Nangka last week, which has since been downgraded but is still causing damage to property and infrastructure in this part of the kingdom.
The storm has sent dams and reservoirs in the province surging with excess water, causing authorities to keep a close watch on Lam Phra Ploeng Dam in Pak Thong Chai.
Heavy rain has seen the dam's water level reach a critical point. The water was siphoned into Khlong Lam Phra Ploeng, a canal nearby, but it too has overflowed, and water from there is now flooding Ban Na Klang in tambon Bor Thong.
The village, at the epicentre of the flooding, had become cut off after the single road which leads in to the area became submerged. It was reported that the flood level in the small village of 48 households had risen to 1.2 metres by Saturday afternoon.
Local authorities have sent flat-bottomed boats to help evacuate stranded villagers. It was unclear where they are being taken.
Kiattisak Nookaew, director of Royal Irrigation Office 8, said Lam Phra Ploeng Dam is structurally sound and able to withstand the pressure after leading a team of engineers and experts to inspect the dam's capacity.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Prachin Buri, water run-off from the forests in the province flooded a section of Ban Nong Don-Noen Sung Road in Kabin Buri district, leaving smaller vehicles unable to use it.
Farmers also rushed to harvest cassava and paddy rice after their fields were inundated by flood water.
The category 2 tropical depression over central Vietnam had weakened to become a category 1 active low-pressure cell in Cambodia, according to the Thai Meteorological Department's weather update on Saturday.
Heavy rain is expected in the lower North, Central Plains, Northeast and Eastern parts of Thailand.