Nakhon Ratchasima: Over one million cubic metres of water burst out of a partially broken reservoir wall in Pak Thong Chai district, inundating at least two downstream villages and triggering flood alarms for areas along the water's path.
The Hin Ta Ngo reservoir, which contained 1.2 million m³ of water, broke about 5pm on Saturday after it was overwhelmed by large volumes of water runoff caused by heavy rain in the past several days, according to Somkiat Prachamwongsa, secretary-general of Office of the National Water Resources.
The water gushed out of a 10-metre long ruptured section of the reservoir and flowed into Khlong Lam Phra Phloeng, causing the water level in the canal to rapidly surge.
The canal quickly overflowed, and the water flooded more than 60 homes in Ban Lam Pakhon Nuea Moo 5 and Ban Lam Pakhon Moo 3, Mr Somkiat said.
The flood then spread to several tambons in the Pak Thong Chai district, prompting the immediate evacuation of residents living in affected areas, he added.
The flood relief operation has been underway since Saturday evening and continued throughout yesterday, with flat-bottomed boats sent to evacuate stranded villagers, Mr Somkiat said.
Wichian Chantharanothai, governor of the province, said yesterday he had asked the Armed Forces Development Command to help erect a barrier of sandbags to plug the broken section at the Hin Ta Ngo reservoir and slow down the water flow.
Meanwhile, Royal Irrigation Department officials and local authorities are collaborating to reduce the rate of water being discharged from reservoirs into the Chi and Mun rivers.
The operation is intended to reduce the volume of water flowing downstream to areas in Nakhon Ratchasima province already hit hard by floods.
Yesterday afternoon, a recurrence of flooding was reported in some communities in the Muang Pak Chong municipality of Pak Chong district in the province, where floodwater had briefly subsided, according to a source.
District residents had been warned to anticipate the return of heavy flooding around the clock, the source said.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation yesterday reported 25,273 people in 849 villages in 25 provinces were affected by floods, noting one person died while three others were injured.
Currently, floods remain in 11 of the 25 provinces, the department said.
Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani are the worst-hit provinces. Five out of 13 districts in Nakhon Ratchasima had been battered since the onset of the storm season. Yesterday, the Thai Meteorological Department in its forecast said heavy rain is expected in the Northeast, the Central Plains, the East and the South regions.