Floods remain in five northern provinces, the country’s disaster agency said, as City Hall reaffirms preventive measures are in place to prepare for run-off from the North.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said the floods in 22 northern provinces between 16 and 22 August killed 22 people, 13 of whom died in Phuket, and affected 30,807 families.
The flooding situation on Sunday remains in five provinces – Chiang Rai, Nan, Phayao, Phetchabun and Phrae, the country’s disaster agency said. Nine more people died today and several districts in Chiang Rai are still under water.
Chaovalit Gunkham, an assistant governor of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, said even though the flood situation in the North has eased in certain provinces, the MEA is working with other agencies to keep a close eye on water flows in major river basins. The water level at the Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit province, one of the main dams in the upper North, is at 70% of total capacity as of Sunday and is able to take in an additional 2.9 million cubic metres of run-off.
The dam’s discharge rate had been reduced to 3 million cubic metres per day to mitigate impacts on downstream areas and store water supply for the next dry season, Mr Chaovalit said.
Mekong rising
Surasee Kittimonthon, secretary-general of the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), on Sunday said water levels in the Mekong river continued to rise and affect low-lying areas in the north and north-eastern provinces.
He said the ONWR had sent an emergency notice to the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS), requesting increased flood surveillance and prediction of daily peaks from water stations along the river in eight provinces – Chiang Rai, Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani.
The letter urged officials to report the latest water situation to member countries including Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It asked Laos to manage water in the dams in the tributaries of the Mekong River and coordinate with China in slowing water discharges from its dams in the upper Mekong River Basin to limit damage from floods as much as possible.
In Bueng Kan province, water in the Mekong river on Sunday morning reached 12.05 metres high – only 95 centimetres below the spill-over level of 13 metres. Thousands of rai of farmland in the province have been flooded.
Bangkok flood threat
Meanwhile, Bangkok Deputy Governor Wissanu Sapsompol said City Hall was closely monitoring water levels at different sections of the Chao Phraya river and sharing data with the Royal Irrigation Department, Centre of National Water Administration and ONWR.
“The flow (of the Chao Phraya River) through Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district was not at a worrying level today. Run-off from Nan is expected to take about five days and we will know at least two days in advance before the water from Bang Sai reaches Bangkok,” Mr Wissanu said.
"I actually don't want people to worry (about the flooding) too much as City Hall has been closly monitoring the situation and we will issue warnings to the public beforehand."
Mr Wissanu said officials had reinforced and increased the height of flood walls along the Chao Phraya with sandbags to prevent flooding. Manpower and flood-protection infrastructure such as sandbags and water pumps are already in place in at-risk areas to quickly help people in emergencies, he said.