Thais wait for flood levels to decline
Source: Agencies |
October 24, 2011, Monday
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THE threat that floodwaters will inundate Thailand's capital could ease by the beginning of next month as record levels in the rivers carrying torrents of water downstream from the country's north begin to decline, authorities said yesterday.
The Flood Relief Operations Command made the comments just a day after reports that Bangkok's main Chao Phraya river was overflowing its banks deepened concerns the city would be inundated. The report said the river was at its highest levels in seven years.
The command's chief, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, said in a televised press conference yesterday that people should not be too concerned about the river's spillover because it could be drained off. He also said water in Klong Prapa, a major canal that was overflowing, was receding, and that plans to drain water to the east and west were working well.
Floodwaters that have spilled on to highways north of the capital, including near Bangkok's second airport in the Don Muang district, came from rising groundwater that will quickly recede, he said.
The flood relief agency said "people should adjust their lifestyles in accordance with the situation" and check all information because rumors have been quick to circulate. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday that the waters may take up to six weeks to recede to manageable proportions.
The death toll from the flooding, which began in August in northern Thailand, has reached 356, while the economic costs are estimated to be as high as US$6 billion.
Residents of Bangkok and its suburbs have settled into a daily routine of waiting and worrying. Advice from the authorities has generally been vague or sometimes overly detailed, giving little idea of the urgency of evacuation, so many people have decided to hunker down in their homes and hope for the best.
Many are hoarding supplies for the aquatic siege, and supermarket shelves have been emptying faster than they can be restocked. Bottled water, batteries and canned food are among the first items to go.
Many of the shelves were bare, with the handful of shoppers inside grabbing the few snacks that were left.
While larger stores in Bangkok have kept their prices fixed, in the flooded zones north of the city, smaller merchants were raising theirs. A Rangsit resident, Taweetit Hongsang, complained that the price of a papaya, 10 baht (33 US cents) a week ago, had shot up to 30 baht (US$1).
At least five major industrial estates north of Bangkok have been forced to suspend operations. Among those affected are Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, which have halted major assembly operations. The electronics industry has also suffered, including computer hard drive maker Western Digital, which has two major production facilities in the flooded zone.
The Flood Relief Operations Command made the comments just a day after reports that Bangkok's main Chao Phraya river was overflowing its banks deepened concerns the city would be inundated. The report said the river was at its highest levels in seven years.
The command's chief, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, said in a televised press conference yesterday that people should not be too concerned about the river's spillover because it could be drained off. He also said water in Klong Prapa, a major canal that was overflowing, was receding, and that plans to drain water to the east and west were working well.
Floodwaters that have spilled on to highways north of the capital, including near Bangkok's second airport in the Don Muang district, came from rising groundwater that will quickly recede, he said.
The flood relief agency said "people should adjust their lifestyles in accordance with the situation" and check all information because rumors have been quick to circulate. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday that the waters may take up to six weeks to recede to manageable proportions.
The death toll from the flooding, which began in August in northern Thailand, has reached 356, while the economic costs are estimated to be as high as US$6 billion.
Residents of Bangkok and its suburbs have settled into a daily routine of waiting and worrying. Advice from the authorities has generally been vague or sometimes overly detailed, giving little idea of the urgency of evacuation, so many people have decided to hunker down in their homes and hope for the best.
Many are hoarding supplies for the aquatic siege, and supermarket shelves have been emptying faster than they can be restocked. Bottled water, batteries and canned food are among the first items to go.
Many of the shelves were bare, with the handful of shoppers inside grabbing the few snacks that were left.
While larger stores in Bangkok have kept their prices fixed, in the flooded zones north of the city, smaller merchants were raising theirs. A Rangsit resident, Taweetit Hongsang, complained that the price of a papaya, 10 baht (33 US cents) a week ago, had shot up to 30 baht (US$1).
At least five major industrial estates north of Bangkok have been forced to suspend operations. Among those affected are Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, which have halted major assembly operations. The electronics industry has also suffered, including computer hard drive maker Western Digital, which has two major production facilities in the flooded zone.
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