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Chao Phraya basin braces for deluge
Six Central Plains provinces have been placed on high alert against heavy flooding expected to be triggered by overflows from the North.
Hospital staff and soldiers help evacuate a patient from flood-hit Maharat Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Muang district. Several patients were transferred yesterday to public-run Khon Kaen Hospital in the neighbouring province as the flood waters show no sign of receding. SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL
Provinces most vulnerable to the deluge are Sing Buri, Chai Nat, Ang Thong, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi, Royal Irrigation Department spokesman Boonsanong Suchatpong said yesterday.
The six provinces would be unable to avoid flooding as a vast amount of water from the North and from Pasak Jolasit Dam in Lop Buri was approaching.
The department is trying to drain as much water as possible from the Chao Phraya River basin before Saturday, when the sea water level will begin to rise because of king tides.
Irrigation officials are worried the rise in the sea water level from Saturday to next Tuesday would worsen the flood situation in the Central Plains as it would hamper drainage.
"We are trying our best to minimise the flood impact but it is impossible to make all areas [in the Central Plains] free from flooding," Mr Boonsanong said.
Bangkok is well prepared for the situation as the capital has the capacity to divert up to 50 million cubic metres of water a day from the city.
Flooding in Nakhon Ratchasima has continued to wreak havoc although efforts have been made to divert waters from flood-hit districts through Chalerm Phrakiat and Chakkarat districts to the Mekong River bordering Ubon Ratchathani.
Khunpoj Buathone, an engineer attached to the water crisis prevention centre at the Water Resources Department, said flood waters in Pak Chong and Pak Thong Chai districts had begun to recede. Although an estimated 400 million cubic metres of water was being released from the spillway of the overflowing Lam Phra Phloeng reservoir, this would not increase flood levels in the two districts as water was being diverted at a rate of 400 cubic metres a second to the Moon River which flows into the Mekong River in Ubon Ratchathani's Khong Chiam district .
Mr Khunpoj said the Moon River was expected to burst its banks today and tomorrow and inundate areas in Satuk district in Buri Ram and Rasi Salai district in Si Sa Ket before reaching Ubon Ratchathani.
Residents in communities near the Moon River should prepare for rising waters, he said.
Nakhon Ratchasima governor Rapee Pongbuppakit said 24 of the province's 32 districts had been flooded. More than 200,000 residents had been affected and about 470,000 rai of land damaged.
The governor said flood waters would soon reach Chalerm Phrakiat, Chakkarat, Non Thai and Non Sung districts.
The Education Ministry said buildings and equipment at 112 schools and educational institutes in Nakhon Ratchasima had been damaged. Urgent repairs were being made to ensure the schools could open for the new semester in 12 days.
Flooding has also begun to affect areas in other northeastern provinces.
In Surin, the provincial irrigation office was draining 7 million cubic metres of water a day from the overflowing Huay Saneng reservoir in Muang district, leaving at least 5,000 rai of farmland under water.
In Chaiyaphum, local residents were evacuated to higher ground as the Lampathao reservoir in Kaeng Khro district overflowed.
The overflow from the Chulabhorn Dam in Khon San district also swamped areas in several districts and flood waters were expected to hit Khon Kaen in the next two days.
In Ayutthaya, Methadol Wichakana, head of the historical park, said the Chao Phraya River was close to overflowing with water being released from the Chao Phraya, Rama VI and Pasak Cholasit dams.
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