Water, water and more water

There is no doubt: the Chao Praya is about to burst its banks in Ayutthaya province. Residents have already been warned to prepare for 'imminent' flooding.

In addition to Ayutthaya, six other provinces in the Central Plains are also threatened by the rising water, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) warns after water from the North had flooded (parts of) Sukothai province.

The water is now advancing towards Chai Nat, where the crucial dam in the Chao Praya is located. That dam regulates the flow of water southward. It is expected that 1.600 cubic meters of water will be discharged per second, which means that the village head of Moo 2 (Bang Ban) says his village will be 'definitely' flooded, because 1.500 meters is the maximum they want to keep it dry in Bang Ban. The dam currently discharges 1.100 cubic meters per second.

The rice farmers in Ayutthaya rush to harvest their rice before the water makes it impossible. They are lucky this year – if you can call it that – because the seasonal floods hit later than in previous years, because it has rained less. That gives them more time to prepare.

According to Ayutthaya Governor Withaya Pewpong, the RID has predicted a "large mass" of water for the beginning of this week, which will raise the water level in canals by a meter.

The water in the Chao Phraya is currently 1 to 2 meters below the bank. But once the Chao Phraya dam starts to discharge more water, areas along the Ban Luang canal in Ayutthaya will be flooded.

Sukothai

The province of Sukothai will have a hard time this year. The paper calls the floods in tambon Pak Kwai (Muang, photo above) and in Si Samrong district 'the worst in 50 years', apparently more serious than the major floods of 2011 that affected large parts of the country and parts of Bangkok.

In Si Samrong, 400 houses have been under water for four days. In the residential area of ​​Saen Suk, the water is 1,5 meters high. In Kong Krailat, a 69-year-old man was said to have been dragged into the water while fishing. His body has not yet been found.

Although the water is receding somewhat in Si Samrong, Sawankhalok and Muang, the danger has not passed, because within two days a new stream of water will arrive from Phrae. On Friday, a dike along the Yom River broke over a distance of 100 meters [previously 50 meters] in Muang, causing 1.500 households to experience flooding. The Sukothai-Wang Mai Khon highway became impassable; the water reached a height of half a meter.

(Source: bangkok mail, September 7, 2014)

Chiang Rai

In the northern province of Chiang Rai, villages in three sub-districts were flooded by water that came from the mountains Pha Mee and Nang Non. Many hill tribes have lost their livestock and hundreds of homes have been damaged.

The district of Chiang Saen is threatened because the Chinese Jinghong dam has to discharge more water. The water level in the reservoir has risen sharply. As a result, the water level in the Mekong River will rise by at least 3 meters. Combined with heavy rains, this could lead to flooding on the Mekong plains and flood the Ban Saew sub-district. If the water rises even further, the city of Chiang Saen will also be flooded. The residents have been warned.

Flooding is also threatening in the sub-districts of Pa Sak and Sri Donmoon because the rivers Chan and Kham cannot discharge their water in the Mekong due to the high water level. When the water in the Mekong reaches 7 meters high, Chiang Saen's plain is threatened.

Phayao

Five villages in Phayao province were hit on Saturday after heavy rains the night before. Fields of maize and beans measuring 3 square kilometers were damaged. Five hundred farmers are left behind.

Flooding continues in Sukothai, Tak and Nakhon Sawan provinces, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

(Source: website Bangkok Post)

The next video shows the violence of the water, but I don't know where it is because all the text is in Thai. Perhaps a reader can speak the redeeming word.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/nwpOsySSWHQ[/youtube]