Kanchanaburi at flood risk
All district chiefs in Kanchanaburi have received an urgent order to brace for floods and evacuate villagers if necessary amid growing worry after heavy rain submerged parts of Nan.
Letters marked “most urgent” have been sent to the district chiefs by provincial governor Chirakiat Phumsawat who is concerned Kanchanaburi, along with 10 other provinces, is likely to encounter the combined effects of a low-pressure system, which has been weakened by tropical storm Bebinca, and a stronger southwest monsoon in the Andaman Sea.
Mr Chirakiat cited a warning from the Meteorological Department of the possible flash floods and mudslides in Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo, Chachoengsao, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
People must “strictly follow government instructions” during this volatile situation and “officials may need to evacuate those in risky areas if necessary”, the letter read.
The governor also asked local officials to brace for overflow from the Kaeo Noi River due to more water being discharged from Vajiralongkorn dam, which will increase to 53 million cubic metres a day next week. Some riverside communities in Sai Yok district have been flooded.
In Nan, floods, mainly brought by Bebinca, are still affecting three districts — Muang, Phu Phiang and Tha Wang Pha — as soldiers rush to place sandbags to reinforce a 3km section of an embankment along the Nan River after it began to crack and leak.
The damage led to many riverside communities being flooded. In some areas, the water level rose to one metre. The situation is also worrying in the eastern coastal province of Trat where officials will increase the discharge rates of water from now brimming Khlong Son and Dan Shumphon reservoirs.
Officials in tambon Sato in Trat’s Khkao Saming district have been alerted to the possibility of further flooding after Khiri Than Dam in the neighbouring province of Chanthaburi reached capacity, triggering the risk of runoff that will flow into Trat, Pramot Chankrachang, chief of Sato Tambon Administration Organisation said.