Thailand, Flood in Sukhothai

The Sukhothai province is facing flooding in its area due to the high rainfall over the weekend. The water level of Yom River has been significantly increased and began to overflow the embankment and river basin. The business area was submerged with water about 1 meter deep. In Thani municipality, the electricity was cut off to avoid harm. Based on the Departement of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the flood has affected over 1,100 families in Sukhothai. To anticipate further losses, the local government urged the flood barrier enforcement and the relief operation. Sandbags and heavy equipment were deployed in the vulnerable area. Military and volunteer have been also mobilized to support the emergency response (i.e 3 ships, 24 military personnel and 50 volunteers). In 11 September 2012, the local government has been instructed by the Prime Minister to drain the floodwater as the situation started to stabilize. Mr. Plodprasop Suraswadi, chairman of Waret and Flood Management Committee (WFMC) explained that the situation was improve and Bangkok would not suffer the same last year‘ flooding as the current rain volume was 20% lower than year 2011. Though some populated area and farmland were inundated, however in overall the impact was smaller compare to the last‘ year impact.