Bangkok set for unstoppable floodwaters

THAILAND: Millions of people in the Thai capital nervously prepared for advancing and seemingly unstoppable floodwaters on Monday after residents in areas deemed most at threat were urged to leave. Bangkok authorities warned that large volumes of water were flowing towards the low-lying capital and were closing in on six of Bangkok’s 50 districts, including areas just north of the city centre.

Adding to concerns was the danger posed by crocodiles, after a number of the reptiles escaped from flooded farms. Some of the animals had been captured in one province north of Bangkok.

The World Health Organisation also told people to beware of electrocution and snake bites while warning that infections and water-borne and communicable diseases, such as diarrhoea, were key concerns for flood victims.

“If water keeps coming into those six districts the situation may reach dangerous or critical levels,” city governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said in a televised address. His administration called late Sunday on residents in these areas who faced “potential dangers to lives and properties” to evacuate to emergency shelters, with priority given to the young, sick and elderly.

The announcement came after the Thai government said it would set up a distribution centre in the capital to help replenish empty supermarket shelves in preparation for the floods, which have so far largely spared the city.

Other parts of the country have been plagued by three months of heavy monsoon rains.

AFP