Riverside homes swamped
Authorities have been forced to release massive volumes of water from the brimming Pasak Jolasit Dam in Lop Buri, inundating more than 1,000 rai of land downstream.
In Nonthaburi, the whole of Koh Kret - a popular weekend tourist destination in the Chao Phya River - is 50 centimetres under water, as are more than 1,000 riverside homes. Provincial authorities yesterday declared the province a disaster area, making it eligible for emergency assistance.In hard-hit Sukhothai, three people including a 14-year-old boy drowned. Provincial hospital staff were commuting to work in large trucks because their homes and roads had been submerged. Saksiri Yoosuk, a senior irrigation official overseeing the dam, said he had no choice but to open the floodgates even though the six provinces to the south, including Bangkok, would be swamped. He said the reservoir was 760 million cubic metres full, near the critical level (790 million cu m).
|
