Floods subside slightly and links to South partly opened
INTERIOR Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda said this afternoon (Jan. 10) that flooding at Bang Saphan district in Prachuab Khiri Khan Province has eased and some communications to the South are now possible but warned that if torrential rains persist some parts of Bangkok could be impacted, Thai News Agency said.
All related agencies have held a meeting to cope with the heavy rain which the Meteorological Department has warned might intensify with the impact possibly spreading to some parts of Bangkok, he said.
Last night forest runoff gushed into parts of Petch Kasem Highway heavily flooding two parts of it and damaging many vehicles.
Meanwhile at around 8 a.m. today the State Railway of Thailand said rail tracks between Bang Saphan Yai and Cha Muang stations in Prachuab Khiri Khan had been damaged by the floods with this necessitating the halting and rescheduling of many trains.
Floodwater was higher than a meter at some parts of a three-kilometer stretch of Petch Kasem Highway from Bang Saphan police station till Bang Saphan Industrial and Community Education College and also a similar stretch in Thap Sakae district stranding many vehicles and cutting off the route of the south for a while.
At around 11 p.m. last night the pressure of the floodwater led to the rear wall of Bang Saphan Hospital collapsing causing the first floor to quickly fill up with water.
Dr Chertchai Chaiyawatho, the hospital’s director, said that officials had moved about 40 patients to the sixth floor of building six after building one’s first floor got flooded with utilities, mainly electricity, water and sewerage system, all completely cut.
This is the worst floods the hospital has faced in 15 years and it can no longer open to treat patients, he added.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Soldiers carry a paralyzed man from his flooded home to safety. Photo: Thai News Agency
First inset: A row of cars stranded on the heavily flooded Petch Kasem Highway. Photo: Thai News Agency
Second inset: Doctors and nurses working at Bang Saphan Hospital’s flooded first floor . Photo: Thai News Agency.
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