Thai death toll from flooding passes 500
Source: Agencies |
November 7, 2011, Monday
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THE nationwide death toll from flooding in Thailand passed 500 yesterday as polluted water continued its march through northern Bangkok, pouring across major intersections and a road beneath the capital's elevated train line.
Floodwaters were also approaching a main road near the city's Mo Chit bus terminal, a major gateway to northern Thailand. But the bus station remained open, traffic police chief Uthaiwan Kaewsa-ard said.
Three months of intense rainfall have fueled Thailand's worst flooding in half a century, swamping much of the country since July and leaving 506 people dead, according to the government.
Floodwaters have begun receding in some provinces north of Bangkok, but they have built up around the city, which stands in the way of the water's natural flow south to the Gulf of Thailand.
Yesterday, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra ordered another wave of evacuations in neighborhoods in the east and west. Evacuations have so far been ordered in 11 of the capital's 50 districts. Seven other districts are partially inundated and residents in parts of those have been told to leave.
On Saturday, floodwaters began lapping at Bangkok's largest outdoor shopping zone, the Chatuchak Weekend Market, a major tourist attraction north of the city's central business district. In the past few days, it has also begun moving south in adjacent Lad Phrao, a district of office towers, condominiums and a popular shopping mall.
Since late on Saturday, water inundated a two-lane road beneath the Mo Chit Skytrain station, an elevated train platform that is part of a mass transit system.
Workers on Friday night completed a 6-kilometer sandbag flood wall. But Bangkok will have to rely on its existing drainage system to deal with water already beyond the wall and just a few kilometers from the central business district.
Over the past two decades, the city's enlarged and improved drainage system has coped with monsoon seasons with average rainfall. But it will be put to a severe test given a volume of water not seen in Bangkok since 1942.
Officials say they are confident Suvarnabhumi Airport - the city's only aerial gateway to the outside world - will remain open. Bangkok's second airport, used for domestic flights, is underwater and remains closed.
Floodwaters were also approaching a main road near the city's Mo Chit bus terminal, a major gateway to northern Thailand. But the bus station remained open, traffic police chief Uthaiwan Kaewsa-ard said.
Three months of intense rainfall have fueled Thailand's worst flooding in half a century, swamping much of the country since July and leaving 506 people dead, according to the government.
Floodwaters have begun receding in some provinces north of Bangkok, but they have built up around the city, which stands in the way of the water's natural flow south to the Gulf of Thailand.
Yesterday, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra ordered another wave of evacuations in neighborhoods in the east and west. Evacuations have so far been ordered in 11 of the capital's 50 districts. Seven other districts are partially inundated and residents in parts of those have been told to leave.
On Saturday, floodwaters began lapping at Bangkok's largest outdoor shopping zone, the Chatuchak Weekend Market, a major tourist attraction north of the city's central business district. In the past few days, it has also begun moving south in adjacent Lad Phrao, a district of office towers, condominiums and a popular shopping mall.
Since late on Saturday, water inundated a two-lane road beneath the Mo Chit Skytrain station, an elevated train platform that is part of a mass transit system.
Workers on Friday night completed a 6-kilometer sandbag flood wall. But Bangkok will have to rely on its existing drainage system to deal with water already beyond the wall and just a few kilometers from the central business district.
Over the past two decades, the city's enlarged and improved drainage system has coped with monsoon seasons with average rainfall. But it will be put to a severe test given a volume of water not seen in Bangkok since 1942.
Officials say they are confident Suvarnabhumi Airport - the city's only aerial gateway to the outside world - will remain open. Bangkok's second airport, used for domestic flights, is underwater and remains closed.
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