Governor apologises for city flood chaos — ‘I tried my best’
Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang offered a public apology to Bangkok residents yesterday after they endured one of the worst days of flooding in years.
“I’ve tried my best and truly understand how badly the people are suffering the consequences of the floods. I apologise for this trouble with no excuses and I am willing to listen to all complaints and criticism,” Pol Gen Aswin said.
He was speaking after he spent the morning yesterday visiting flood-affected areas in Bangkok, following a seven-hour downpour throughout the city.
In several areas, the volume of rain was measured at more than 100 millimetres per hour the previous night and that resulted in the overwhelming volume of excess water in Bangkok’s canals, he said.
The heaviest rain was measured in Wang Thong Lang district at 169mm per hour, he said.
“The rainfall was almost threefold higher than the city’s drainage capability,” said Pol Gen Aswin.
According to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), its drainage system has a capacity to drain only 60mm per hour of rainfall.
Amid the overwhelming downpours, the BMA took up to 10 hours to drain floodwaters, deputy Bangkok governor Chakkaphan Phewngam said.
He said this was unexpected as, normally, the BMA expects heavy rainfall to last only a few hours.
The Meteorological Department, meanwhile, warned that almost all parts of Bangkok should brace for more rain today that was forecast to become as serious as the downpours on Wednesday night.
At least 25 areas in Bangkok were badly affected by floods, triggered by downpours, from Wednesday night until yesterday morning, the BMA’s flood prevention centre revealed yesterday.
It took the affected areas from three to 10 hours to completely drain away the floodwater of between 5cm and 30cm, the centre said.
The severely affected areas included a section of Chaeng Watthana Road near a Tesco Lotus branch in Laksi district, Ngam Wong Wan Road, Phahon Yothin Road in front of the Amornphan market at Chatuchak market, and Sukhumvit Road’s out-bound lanes around the Bearing BTS station.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has instructed the military to closely monitor potential disaster situations across the country and prepare to promptly respond to any natural disaster that may strike at any given time, defence spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said.
Seven so-called disaster evaluation teams and 15 traffic easing teams from the army were deployed to help flood victims in eight districts of Bangkok from Wednesday night until yesterday, said National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) deputy spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong.
Meanwhile, a source said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit the Phra Khanong pumping station and the floodprone areas of Soi Lasalle and Soi Bearing in Samut Prakan province on Monday.
He will be briefed about progress in the BMA’s flood-prevention measures, the source said.
Widespread rain is also causing problems for provincial authorities.
Many have moved into flood-control mode with forecasters warning of more inundation to come today and over the weekend if the heavy rain continues.
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department has warned people living near mountains to watch out for runoff.