BANGKOK: Bangkok authorities declared a flood disaster across the Thai capital on Saturday after almost 48 hours of heavy rain left homes, shops and roads waterlogged and residents wading through deep water. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cut short a trip to London to return home after almost 300 millimetres of rain fell between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning, according to officials.
"The water keeps coming in. It's hard to go out now. It's like at my waist level now," said Somkid Pheuk-ngam, 67, a vendor who lives near a canal just north of central Bangkok. "I cannot go anywhere. I have been closing my shop for two days now," she said. Bangkok is no stranger to wet weather, and September is the peak of the rainy season, but several residents said it felt worse than usual. "I feel like in all the many years I've lived here, I've never encountered anything like this, where it rains continuously for days," said 63-year-old resident Anutin Meechamnan.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) declared a disaster for all the city's 50 districts, a move which gives local organisations special powers to act. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Saturday afternoon that the situation had "stabilised", adding: "If more rainwater doesn't fall in the area, it will be solved." "If the rain stops, it is expected that it will take two to three days to drain the floodwater," he said in an update broadcast on social media.
Almost continuous rain since Thursday afternoon has swelled Bangkok's network of canals, sending murky water into surrounding homes, restaurants, shops and alleyways. "Our problem is that the canals are full," Chadchart said. "We are cooperating with nearby provinces and trying to drain water out through other sides, minimising the amount that flows into Bangkok." Once dubbed the "Venice of the East", the city is built on former marshland and rests about 1.5 metres above sea level.
The BMA earlier said the city's pumping stations were operating at full capacity, pumping some 1,200 cubic metres per second combined. Reporters saw residents wading or pushing their motorcycles through high waters in several districts of eastern Bangkok, while on one major road, parked cars were partially submerged.
Some convenience stores had empty shelves by lunchtime as residents raced to buy essentials. Chadchart said at least 13 major roads were flooded but urged residents not to worry about potential food shortages, stressing: "The public don't have to be panicked." He said around 980 people were staying in temporary shelters, while authorities had transferred 36 bedridden people to hospitals. The city has also prepared one million sandbags.
September has been wetter than usual, according to figures from Bangkok's drainage and sewage department. The capital recorded 487 mm of rain between September 1 and 25, compared to an average of almost 269 mm for the same period from 1991 to 2020. Scientists warn the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.
Flooding was also reported on Saturday across 21 provinces in Thailand, with one fatality, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. It said more rain was expected into Sunday. Widespread deluges across Thailand in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes. — AFP
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