More diaster zones named in Lampang as downpours continue
By THE NATION ON SUNDAY
Published on August 29, 2010
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Floods have forced officials in Lampang province to designate more districts as disaster zones after heavy downpours, while many other provinces in the North and Northeast have also been severely affected by heavy rain.
The Meteorological Department yesterday issued a warning at 4.30pm on its website to alert people on hill slopes and near waterways in the North, the Northeast, the upper Central and the East to heavy rain and possible flash floods from late yesterday till tomorrow.
Lampang Governor Supakit Boonyarittipong said 32 tambons in seven districts were now disaster zones, up from 15 tambons in five districts previously announced last week, after runoff and flash floods affected more than 200,000 residents (from 44,300 families), and damaged 12,000 rai of farmland.
Supakit said it was the worst natural disaster in five years. He estimated total damage at about Bt100 million.
The seven districts are Muang, Thoen, Muang Pan, Koh Kha, Hang Chat, Chae Hom and Wang Nua.
Flash floods ravaged Muang district in Mae Hong Son province early yesterday morning, causing people to rush to move their belongings to higher and safer places.
Authorities then rushed to survey the damage.
Reports said landslides caused a road to Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu in the same district impassable for tourists who travelled to visit the temple.
But there had been no injuries or deaths there so far, Mae Hong Son Deputy Governor Thanin Suphasaen said.
In Phrae province, a local waterway called Huai Mae Kham Mee in Rong Kwang district overflowed and sent floodwater into locals' homes and nearby farmland in tambon Phai Thone and tambon Huai Rong after long-lasting heavy rain.
District chief Songrit Kaewsuti said the flood situation was the most severe in 50 years.
He said that two assistance centres had been set up in tambons to help affected locals.
In Si Sa Ket, Governor Kong-ekwilas Rujiwattanaphong held a meeting yesterday with relevant state agencies, including district chiefs, to seek measures to cope with possible floods and landslides.
They agreed to set up special centres in districts and elsewhere in the province to handle the problems, Kong-ekwilas said.
They were closely monitoring rainfall in Khun Han, Phu Sing and Kantharalak districts, as well as warnings by the Meteorological Department.
He said they would inform locals in Khun Han and Phu Sing districts to beware of possible landslides, as they were risky areas.
Runoff reportedly hit over 700 residences, plus a market and farmland in Wang Pong, Wichien Buri and Nong Phai districts in Phetchabun province. A few parts of the Chaiyaphum-Nakhon Sawan road were also cut off, from km71 to km77, making the road impassable.
Authorities rushed to drain floodwater in a community hit by continuous downpours in Muang Kalasin municipality.
THE NATION
