Meter-high floods in parts of Ayutthaya
FLOODS at low-lying river banks in six districts of Ayutthaya province are as high as a meter today (August 3) and 11,000 households have been affected, INN News said.
Udomsak Khaonoona, head of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office in Ayutthaya, said houses and temples in six districts located beyond the flood barriers on low-lying banks of Noi and Chao Phraya rivers plus Bang Luang and Bang Ban canals are 20 centimeters to a meter deep in water.
The six districts are Sena, Phak Hai, Bang Ban, Ayutthaya, Bang Pa-in and Bang Sai.
According to his tally, 11,000 households have already been affected by the floods brought on by the rains and Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat province discharging 1,300 cubic meters of water a second. This area gets immediately flooded when this dam starts releasing a much lower volume of 800 cubic meters of water a second.
However Mr Udomsak said most of the residents had prepared in advance for the floods because this problem arises every year and each household has a boat of its own. However commuting is a problem because they cannot bring their cars back home so what they have done is parked them by the roadside and are taking turns to guard them.
He think the situation will return to normal in October because rainy season ends then.
Meanwhile the Thai Meteorological Department said a monsoon trough lies across upper North and Northeast during August 3-6 while a strong southwesterly monsoon still hangs over the whole of Thailand with this bringing more rain with isolated heavy to very heavy falls in the East and western coast of the South.
There will also be strong winds and two to three meters high waves in the Andaman Sea and upper Gulf of Thailand.
During August 9-7, the monsoon trough moves to southern China and Vietnam while the southweasterly monsoon will weaken with this decreasing the amount of rain in Thailand. Waves in the Andaman Sea will be one to two meters high.
However travelers are warned that Typhoon Noru which is now hovering over the Pacific Ocean is expected to move towards Japan during August 4-8.
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Top: A swollen canal in Ayutthaya province. Photo: INN News
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