Move to higher ground, Thais warned
Source: Agencies |
October 22, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THAILAND'S prime minister urged Bangkok residents to prepare to move their belongings to higher ground yesterday as the country's worst floods in half a century moved into the capital's outer districts.
The government has opened several floodgates in a risky move to allow water to flow through the canals to the sea, but it is not known how much the canals will overflow.
Yesterday water was entering homes in Bangkok's northern Lak Si district, along the capital's main Prapa Canal. The water rose to knee level in some places but damage so far has been minor and has not affected the main business district.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the Prapa Canal was a big concern. "I would like to ask people in all districts of Bangkok to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground as a precaution," she said, while urging people "not to panic."
Yingluck invoked her powers under the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act, giving her authority over all other official bodies, including local governments, to fight the crisis.
The action should facilitate better coordination with the municipal authorities in Bangkok, which normally have authority to make their own decisions. It also helps portray Yingluck as a decisive leader, after weeks of seeming confusion.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said managing the Prapa Canal was a "top priority" but volumes of floodwater from the north are expected to intensify. Immense networks of sandbag barriers could deteriorate under pressure from the water, as they are not designed as dams.
Excessive rains and storms have affected a swath of Asia this year, killing 745 people - a quarter of them children - in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, according to the United Nations.
Thailand's government said yesterday at least 342 deaths have occurred there, mostly from drowning, as floodwater has crept across the nation since July. The floods have submerged about a third of the country, leaving some towns under water more than two meters high.
Economic analysts say the floods have cut Thailand's 2011 gross domestic product projections by as much as 2 percentage points.
The government has opened several floodgates in a risky move to allow water to flow through the canals to the sea, but it is not known how much the canals will overflow.
Yesterday water was entering homes in Bangkok's northern Lak Si district, along the capital's main Prapa Canal. The water rose to knee level in some places but damage so far has been minor and has not affected the main business district.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the Prapa Canal was a big concern. "I would like to ask people in all districts of Bangkok to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground as a precaution," she said, while urging people "not to panic."
Yingluck invoked her powers under the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act, giving her authority over all other official bodies, including local governments, to fight the crisis.
The action should facilitate better coordination with the municipal authorities in Bangkok, which normally have authority to make their own decisions. It also helps portray Yingluck as a decisive leader, after weeks of seeming confusion.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said managing the Prapa Canal was a "top priority" but volumes of floodwater from the north are expected to intensify. Immense networks of sandbag barriers could deteriorate under pressure from the water, as they are not designed as dams.
Excessive rains and storms have affected a swath of Asia this year, killing 745 people - a quarter of them children - in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, according to the United Nations.
Thailand's government said yesterday at least 342 deaths have occurred there, mostly from drowning, as floodwater has crept across the nation since July. The floods have submerged about a third of the country, leaving some towns under water more than two meters high.
Economic analysts say the floods have cut Thailand's 2011 gross domestic product projections by as much as 2 percentage points.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
