Video: Worst monsoon flooding in decades hits Southeast Asia – All Thailand dams overflowing
October 6 (Al Jazeera) – Nearly 400 people have died in Cambodia and Thailand as a result of what officials in the Southeast Asian region are describing as the worst monsoon flooding in decades. By Wednesday, after several weeks of heavy rain, at least 224 people had been confirmed killed in Thailand and another 167 were found dead in Cambodia. Keo Vy, spokesman for Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management, said that this year’s flooding had already exceeded the human and economic toll exacted by the flood season in 2000, which was considered severe. In a statement to the Xinhua news agency, Vy said the flooding that began in August had now affected the lives of more than 200,000 families in the nation of 14 million. He said that the flooding of the Mekong River, the region’s vital waterway, has inundated an estimated 291,000 hectares of rice paddy, 200km of national roads and up to another 2,019km of gravel roads throughout Cambodia. In neighbouring Thailand, two months of flooding have inundated 58 of 77 provinces – with 25 still severely affected – and damaged the homes or livelihoods of millions of people, according to the government. “It’s the worst flooding yet in terms of the amount of water and people affected,” said an official at Thailand’s disaster prevention and mitigation department who asked not to be named. Since monsoon rains first led to flooding in July, 2.4 million Thais have been affected and nearly 10 per cent of the nation’s 22 million acres of rice fields have also been damaged. Authorities on Wednesday were battling to stop the floods reaching the centre of low-lying Bangkok, as forecasters warned of more wild weather to come. […]
Hundreds killed in Southeast Asia floods 
October 6 (Bangkok Post) – Increased water discharges from the Bhumibol Dam in Tak have threatened to add flood woes to provinces downstream, including Ayutthaya where a large number of industrial factories have been inundated since Tuesday. Overflows from the Noi, Chao Phraya, Pasak and Lop Buri rivers as well as floodwater from fields in Lop Buri province hit larger areas of Ayutthaya yesterday. Flooding expanded in all the province’s 16 districts and 14 of them were heavily hit. Some of them are isolated as their roads are impassable. They include Ban Phraek, Maha Rat, Tha Rua and Phak Hai districts. People in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Nakhon Luang districts of Ayutthaya started to suffer from severe flooding yesterday. Floodwater broke through dykes at Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate in tambon Bang Phrakhru of Nakhon Luang district late on Tuesday night and inundated 43 medium and large-scale factories, most of which belong to Japanese companies. Machines and goods in most of the plants are under water as the water surge was too sudden for factory owners to move them to safe places. Authorities yesterday gave conflicting figures about the damage caused to Ayutthaya by the floods. While Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong put the damage cost to the province since July at 20-30 billion baht, Public Health Minister and Ayutthaya MP Witthaya Buranasiri estimated the damage to the industrial estate as well as urban and commercial areas in Ayutthaya at at least 100 billion baht. Yesterday, the water level in many areas including historical sites in the province was 2-3m deep. Floodwater also covered the outbound lanes of Rojana Road from a roundabout to Wat Phrayat intersection and was expanding yesterday. The discharge rate at the Bhumibol Dam in Tak province has risen from 60 million cubic metres to 100 million cu m of water per day. The flow runs at about 1,200 cubic meters per second. The increasing discharge is meant to save the dam. The extra volume of water has worsened the flood situation downstream. A larger volume of water will also be released from Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit province because water influxes are about to fill its reservoir. Tak governor Samart Loifa said the Bhumibol Dam received about 300 million cu m of water every day. The intake is historically high and exceeds the capacity of the dam. […]
October 6 (The Nation of Pakistan) – All major dams in Thailand have reached 92 per cent of their full capacity, prompting many to release water, which is forcing evacuations in many areas downstream. A total of 250 homes in Kamphaeng Phet’s Kosamphee Nakhon district are set for evacuation before noon today, when metre-high flood water released from Bhumibhol Dam is expected to inundate them. Three other districts also face heavy flooding, but farther downstream. The Interior Ministry is also planning to deal with anticipated flooding in Nakhon Sawan after the release of water from Tak-based Bhumibhol Dam. The government flood-relief centre has said cooler weather could come earlier than November this year: “Within one or two weeks when the cold wind arrives, and the rain stops,” said permanent secretary Pranai Suwannarat, head of the centre. Provincial governors in areas of the South at risk of mudslides have been instructed to coordinate with local relief agencies to keep watch on threatened areas and prepare relief efforts in case of emergency. Deputy governors in provinces not affected by flooding have been told to assist their counterparts in flooded provinces if asked. […] In 19 Northeastern provinces, a flood-relief update says there is renewed risk of flash flooding as a result of heavy rain expected this week. The provinces are in low-lying areas or at the foot of hills or mountains, or by large rivers. […]
