Floods finally reach Suphan Buri
Suphan Buri was finally hit by floods early yesterday amid speculation that an influential figure had locked the sluice gates so the northern run-off would not be diverted into the province, while neighbouring Central region provinces have been submerged for weeks.
Ayutthaya, Angthong, Pathum Thani and Chai Nat have taken the brunt of the overflow from the Chao Phya River, but Suphan Buri's downtown area has only now experienced floodwater for the first time this year. "Don't believe any rumours. I'd like to invite those who just talked and talked to come and see that we're inundated too," said acting governor Somsak Pureesrisak. He was referring to suspicion that former premier Banharn Silpa-archa, the prominent politician from the province, was holding the keys to the sluice gates and not letting the Irrigation Department discharge excess water from the Chao Phya into the province. Banharn and Somsak visited the affected areas in Muang district. Somsak said Suphan Buri has a good city planning office that has prepared well for the flooding problem. Permanent and temporary dykes were built along the Tha Chin River to block spillover from the Chao Phya. The Tha Chin is a tributary of the Chao Phya. He said all three sluice gates linking the two rivers were never locked and the Irrigation Department has drained water from the Chao Phya to the Tha Chin. "Right now the level of the Tha Chin is more than one metre higher than the level of downtown areas. If the embankments collapse, the province will be severely flooded," he said. Provincial authorities were ordered to build up the levees along the Tha Chin as Chao Phya's flow through Nakhon Sawan reached 5,685 cubic metres per second, up by 165 from Friday. The swelling Chao Phya put Angthong in an even more precarious situation. Provincial public health chief Thawal Poblarb said at least two hospitals, Chaiyo and Phothong, were at risk of flooding. Thawal negotiated with two other hospitals in the province as well as one in Sing Buri to accept patients in case of evacuation. In Bangkok, Governor Apirak Kosayodhin on Friday assigned the Civil Emergency Relief Division to prepare for evacuation of communities along the Chao Phya and key canals, if the situation gets worse on the peak high-tide days of October 23-25.In response to the damage associated with the severe flooding in Thailand, the US government, through the US Agency for International Development, has granted US$50,000 (Bt1.9 million) to the Thai Red Cross. The relief funds will support emergency evacuation activities and the procurement and distribution of emergency relief supplies, such as drinking water, hygiene kits and basic household goods.
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