No end to Thai floods
Source: Agencies |
October 23, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THAILAND'S catastrophic floods may take up to six weeks to recede, the prime minister said yesterday, as the human toll from the crisis rose to 356 dead and more than 110,000 displaced.
Excessive monsoon rains have drowned a third of the Southeast Asian nation since late July, causing billions of dollars in damage and putting nearly 700,000 people temporarily out of work.
Colossal pools of runoff from the north have been bearing down on the capital for the last two weeks. In recent days, water has overwhelmed districts just outside Bangkok's northern boundaries, while on Friday, floodwaters began spilling over canals in some of the city's outermost districts, causing minor damage to homes.
Some flooding on Bangkok's outskirts was expected after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered floodgates opened in a risky move to drain the dangerous runoff through urban canals and into the sea. So far, most of the vast metropolis of 9 million people has escaped unharmed, and its two airports are operating normally.
In a radio address yesterday, Yingluck said that "during the next four to six weeks, the water will recede."
The floods are the worst to hit the country since 1942.
Excessive monsoon rains have drowned a third of the Southeast Asian nation since late July, causing billions of dollars in damage and putting nearly 700,000 people temporarily out of work.
Colossal pools of runoff from the north have been bearing down on the capital for the last two weeks. In recent days, water has overwhelmed districts just outside Bangkok's northern boundaries, while on Friday, floodwaters began spilling over canals in some of the city's outermost districts, causing minor damage to homes.
Some flooding on Bangkok's outskirts was expected after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered floodgates opened in a risky move to drain the dangerous runoff through urban canals and into the sea. So far, most of the vast metropolis of 9 million people has escaped unharmed, and its two airports are operating normally.
In a radio address yesterday, Yingluck said that "during the next four to six weeks, the water will recede."
The floods are the worst to hit the country since 1942.
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