Death toll reaches 25 as temporary bridges reopen traffic (Wed. Update)
The death toll from the flooding in the South has reached 25 with two missing. Travel to the South has begun to improve with the building of temporary bridges in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The death toll from the flooding in the South has reached 25 with two missing. Travel to the South has begun to improve with the building of temporary bridges in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
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Wednesday noon update
Phetkasem HIghway reopens
Online reporters
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN – Temporary bridges have been placed over the ends of two bridges on Phetkasem Highway, which had been cut off by strong currents, enabling traffic on the highway to resume from early Wednesday, the Highways Department announced.
The first Bailey bridge was built over the opening at one end of Nong Ya Plong bridge at kilometre marker 365 in tambon Chai Kasem of Bang Saphan district. The work was completed at 3.10am.
The second bridge was done 20 minutes later over the opening at one end of Wang Yao bridge on Highway 4 at kilometre marker 386 in tambon Thong Mongkol in Bang Saphan district.
The two bridges each provide one lane for southbound traffic and another for Bangkok-bound traffic.
In a related development. rail services to the South are expected to resume sometime on Thursday, when track repairs in Prachuap Khiri Khan are due to be completed, but trains will still terminate at Thung Song station in Nakhon Thammarat province.
A collapsed bridge in Bang Saphan district of Prachuap Khiri Khan caused a huge bottleneck on the Phetkasem Road highway, the main land route to and from the South. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Wednesday morning update
Flood toll: 25 dead, 2 missing
Online reporters
Twenty-five people were confirmed killed and two others were missing in the widespread flooding in 12 southern provinces, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department chief Chatchai Promlert said on Tuesday.
Mr Chatchai said that from Jan 1 flash floods have hit 12 provinces – Phatthalung, Narathiwat, Yala, Songkhla, Pattani, Trang, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon, Ranong, Krabi and Prachuap Khirikhan – affecting 1.1 million people of 369,680 households in nearly 5,000 villages in 111 districts.
A BMW sedan is stranded on a median strip in Bang Saphan district after the vehicle was swept away by flood water. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Twenty-five people were reported killed and two were still missing in the floods that have damaged five government installations, 218 roads, and 59 bridges.
The flooding had eased off in Yala, but was still ravaging 11 other provinces.
Late Tuesday morning update
Railway employees inspect a flood-damaged section of the southern railway line. (photo posted on the SRT Facebook Page).
No train services south of Prachuap Khiri Khan
Online reporters
With a section of the rail track between Bang Saphan Yai and Cha Muang railway stations in Prachuap Khiri Khan province flooded and impassable, the State Railway of Thailand has suspended most southern rail services.
The announcement was made by the SRT's public relations office on Facebook on Tuesday. It said the track between the two stations was about 20 centimetres metres under water.
South-bound trains which remain in service will terminate at Hua Hin and Prachuap Khiri Khan stations
Morning story
Phetkasem Road in Prachuap Khiri Khan is flooded on Monday after a downpour and runoff hit the province. CHAIWAT SATYAEM
Flash flood hits main road to South
Online reporters
Drivers to the southern region have been advised to take extreme caution as part of Phetkasem Road in Prachuap Khiri Khan was flooded on Monday.
The central province was hit by torrential rain and a runoff, while many southern provinces were still battered by flooding, which has ravaged the region since the new year and claimed at least 21 lives.
A flash flood struck Bang Saphan and Thap Sakae districts in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Monday afternoon mainly from the runoff from the Tanaosi mountain bordering Myanmar.
Bang Saphan district chief Sakarin Tumsen said the water level was up to 50 centimetres high in some locations on the highway to the South.
Bang Saphan police decided to close some lanes of Phetkasem and used ropes to alert drivers where a road dividing ditch was located to prevent vehicles from plunging into the ditch.
Thap Sakae district chief Thanapat Na Ranong told the FM91 traffic radio station that people who planned to drive to the South should delay the trip if it is unnecessary due to the flooded road.
Bang Saphan Hospital put up sandbag barriers to prevent the place from being flooded and hastily moved some patients to other hospitals.
Houses are submerged after a canal overflowed it banks in Khiri Rat Nikhom in Surat Than provinces. More then 400 households have been affected there. SUPAPONG CHAOLAN
Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi are braced for more torrential rain and flash floods until Tuesday, the Meteorological Department warned in the latest statement.
Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Trang were also ravaged by flash floods.
Economic impact
While this will be little comfort to the hundreds and thousands of people affected by the floods in the South, the private sector says the economic impact will be limited – "no more than 15 billion baht."
Economic impact of Southern floods limited
Online reporters
The private sector has estimated the cost of the severe flooding in the South at no more than 15 billion baht and having little effect on overall economic growth.
The floods have ravaged 10 provinces in the region since the New Year, with the situation now starting to ease in Yala and Ranong accoording to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
By Monday this makeshift walkway had been built across part of the Bang Pan-Khuan Sinchai road that was washed away by the flooding in tambon Sai Thong of Surat Thani's Chai Buri district. SUPAPONG CHAOLAN
About 1 million people have been affected, with 21 people dying as a result of the flooding.
Chen Namchaisiri, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking estimated damage to the economy would be around 10 billion baht, and it should not exceed 15 billion baht. That would have minimal impact on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Floods mainly cause damage to roads, bridges and transport routes, but not much to machinery or the production processes, which are generally covered by insurance. So the impact on the private sector is quite limited,” he said.
Reuters video
There would be delays in transporting goods in some areas as they must use alternative routes. Even so, the situation should return to normal by the end of the week.
Mr Chen was optimistic that business in flood-hit areas would bounce back, as repairs to damaged infrastructure and roads would require government spending.
Issara Wongkusolkij, the Thai Chamber of Commerce chairman, said the flooding had not affected the overall tourism situation in the South. Major tourist destinations, especially Phuket and Krabi, had escaped lightly.
The impact on the South was on a much smaller scale than the great floods of 2011.
Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn, said there was no decline in the number of tourists to the South as a consequence of the flooding. They generally booked ahead.
Read previous story on the flood situation here:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/1176900/more-rain-today-for-ravaged-south-as-deaths-hit-19
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