Just received word that the Ping is rising again, as they had to release more water from a dam further upstream. There are speaker cars in the street telling people to prepare with sandbags from the Municipality Office, close to Gymkhana Golf Club.

They said the water is rising by 10 centimeters per hour, but there was no estimation of how high the water will ultimately rise.

Just thought this could be useful to somebody. Sorry I do not have any more exact information.

The Mrs. is busily sandbagging her offices in CM Land. Says parts of Nong Hoi already underwater.

The khlong on my soi in Nong Hoi hasn't risen at all. There are people staring at the river, which is rising.

The Ping is getting bloody high.All the people that live close to me (North of the city) are busy sand bagging.Poor buggers, I hope all will be ok.

I am downstream in Kamphaeng Phet. Hopefully the dam at Tak can hold it all! Keep us posted

Update:
Ping poised to break its banks

CHIANG MAI:-- Chiang Mai residents living alongside the Ping River have been instructed to ready themselves for immediate evacuation as the waterway is likely to overflow if heavy downpours continue for another two days.

Floodwaters submerged 400 houses in San Sai and Doi Saket districts after heavy rains over the weekend. Large numbers of villagers in San Sai district have been cut off after roads to their homes were inundated.

Deputy Chiang Mai city mayor Phornchai Jitnawasathien said floodwaters would not submerge urban areas including the Night Bazaar shopping complex thanks to newly-finished reinforced flood embankment walls.

A weather forecast warned of a coming depression that would hit the Vietnamese coast on Wednesday, likely resulting in heavy rains and flash floods in the northeastern provinces of Nakhon Phanom, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Si Sa Ket, and Surin, and the two eastern provinces of Chathaburi and Trat.

In Sukhothai, the swelling Yom River has submerged around 10,000 rai of farmland in Muang, Sri Samrong and Sawankhalok districts, said deputy provincial governor Yothin Samutkheeree. Two crewmen in a rescue boat were injured after it capsized on the way to a relief mission.

Heavy rains throughout the weekend caused a section of the Yom River in Sri Samrong district to swell, especially on Sunday night and early Monday morning, prompting occupants of riverside homes to evacuate to higher ground. Three schools in both districts have been closed indefinitely.

Meanwhile, a section of the Yom River in Phitsanulok had also inundated Bang Rakam and Nakhon Thai districts. Local officials have been instructed to monitor water levels and notify the public, said Bang Rakam district chief Noppharat Tangkittithaworn.

Yom River water levels in two tambons in Bang Rakam district were still two metres below the critical level.

--The Nation 2005-09-13

American point of view:

I was just in Chiang Mai this past week and I saw the damage and the water line of the previous flooding. Water was 3' high in placed all through the middle of town. Saw stores still closed etc...

Sad to see that it all could happen again. I was told that this past flood was the first major flood in Chiang Mai for the past 40 years. How odd if it happens again! Lets all pray that there's no more damage to Chiang Mai.

I am back in the States but people at my place report that the water on the Mae Ping started to recede by 9 PM. It is located near Maetang perhaps 30 km (by river) north of Chiangmai, ~25 km south of Chiangdao. Last time we had a flood about five feet higher than the ground area around the houses, which were flooded inside. The area was reported to have not flooded for >40 years.

It is apparently not raining there now so if it continues to not rain then we, including all of Chiangmai night market, should all be ok this time.

Basically, Chiang Mai (like New Orleans) has tried to prove that people are so clever that they can defeat Nature. Silly billies.

Recently, I was reading a book about the Ping and Chao Phraya rivers in the past. (In the times before Euro/USA ideas got a grip in Siam.)
There was a reference to the people in the towns in the river valleys building their houses and shops so that they could abandon the lower level to the water for the duration of any flooding, and live and carry on their businesses upstairs until the flood finished.
Perhaps those people were wiser to not have the conceit to try to defy Nature?

The Industious West has a lot to answer for. Its ideas are too contagious.
Industrialisation brought some 'personality' defects with it, such as arrogance and materialism.
And now the non-industrialised world is getting contaminated by them, too.

Flood warnings for 43 provinces

The Interior Ministry yesterday warned people in 43 provinces across the country to brace for heavy rain and possible flash floods until Thursday. In a statement, the ministry's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said a depression storm coming in from the South China Sea would bring heavy rain that could trigger flash floods and landslides in those provinces.

The 43 provinces are Sa Kaeo, Prachin Buri, Nakhon Nayok, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat, Nakhon Ratchasima, Surin, Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Yasothon, Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen, Roi Et, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Chaiyaphum, Loei, Phetchabun, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Phrae, Nan, Sukhothai, Phichit, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Kamphaeng Phet, Tak, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Lamphun, Phayao and Mae Hong Son. The warning of possible fresh floods was greeted with dismay in several northern provinces already inundated following heavy rainfall over the weekend.

In Chiang Mai, both officials and residents were keeping their fingers crossed as the Ping river continued to rise yesterday. As of yesterday afternoon, the Ping's water level was 3.63 metres high, which was worryingly close to the critical level of 3.7m.

Thada Sukhapunpan, director of hydrology and water management in the upper North, said riverside communities would be spared from flooding if the Ping's level remained below 4.20m. However, he added that rain volumes in the province's Chiang Dao and Mae Taeng districts would also constitute a major factor. Four districts of Chiang Mai _ Doi Saket, Mae Taeng, San Kamphaeng and San Sai _ were already hit by floods caused by heavy downpours. About 1,700 people were affected but there were no reports of human deaths or injuries.

In Lampang province, people living downstream of the Wang river were bracing themselves for possible flooding caused by run-offs from a number of small tributaries. The areas at risk included Koh Kha, Sop Prap and Thoen districts.

The weekend's downpours had already caused flooding in Lampang's Mae Tha, Mae Mo and Muang districts.

--Bangkok Post 2005-09-13

I'm really not sure I understand your thoughts, it would seem people have been drawn to be close to water for thousands of years. I'm included, but fear of natural disasters keep me away. Amazing how something so soothing can be destructive

My soi in the moo baan, Land & Houses in San Sai flooded last night. The local stream running through the estate burst its banks but water has only risen to about 3 or 4 inches down the sois. The houses are about 2 ft above the surface of the road so we're ok.

This post has been edited by jackr: 2005-09-13 10:28:11

You are lucky mate.What is the forcast for the next few days?

RAIN

Should be ok though mate because if the water wanted to flood the house it'd drain into the surrounding land for miles around before it got up to door step-level...hopefully
Saying that, the whole estate is enclosed by a huge wall Pick axe time

From the looks of this latest sat image, there is a bunch of moisture in the area.

Forecast for CM here.

/Edit - nice sat image wimpy... what website?

This post has been edited by Jai Dee: 2005-09-13 11:09:55

Here's the latest image from Meteosat 5...



Website here

Looks like the weather man has spilt some coffee on his laptop

Too bad no Doppler radar around to track rainfall... In Chiang Mai now...
Now no rain... 12p.m. Monda, but latest Meteostat 5 (00:00 UTC 13 Sept) looks like we may get some in a few hours... (hard for amatuer meteorolgist to say for sure) could mostly go south...

I was at Mae Ngat Dam last weekend... could see that last months level was way less than the previous high water mark... Wonder if someone didn't screw up and start releasing water too soon?...
 Mae_Ngat_Dam.jpg ( 48.29K ) Number of downloads: 11

From the looks of the Thai Meteorological Department's (TMD) latest tracking of the tropical depression, it looks like the Isaan region is likely to get hit first.

This will be real nasty weather.

I thought it happened every year, at least over the 20 years I have been in LOS.

Most places treat a flood as warning sign and raise the level of the banks ready
to the next peak, which is usually higher?

Why was the water not managed better, with an earlier release to prevent the
current high levels?
This surge will impact cities and towns all the way down to Nakorn Sawan and Bangkok.

When will the Thai's learn to plan, eliminating the need for the last minute knee jerk reaction.

Wouldn't any water surge from Chiang Mai and points north more likely be held behind the Bhumibol Dam in Tak?

Yeah re Mae Ngat dam, I'm still really unsure about this & would not be surprised at all if it was just a smoke screen by the relevant authorities who stuffed up & did not prepare properly for the massive amount of water heading towards Chiang Mai. (After all it was a Sunday.)
On Sunday 14th August, the day that Cnx was flooded, I went to Mae Ngat dam at 11.00 am & 4.30 pm for a look & the water was below - several meters below - the spillway, so how did they release water?
Again yesterday there was a flood warning because they were releasing water from a dam. Where? Yesterday a mate visited Mae Kuang dam & the water level was way below the spillway too. I also reckon that it might still be below the spillway at Mae Ngat. Could it just be that our local irrigation officials are unprepared & don’t know how to effectively manage the larger volumes of water when the shit hits the fan? So they say, water is being released from a dam & no one asks any questions?

Regarding the last flood, it was unbelievable that you could see the floods in Pai / Mae Taeng / Phrao on ITV late Saturday, with the Mae Taeng / Phrao water heading for Chiang Mai. The floods hit Cnx late Sunday, the next day.
Late Sunday morning I was in Chiang Dao & the locals said that the flood hit them at 5.30 am Saturday, with the water at roof top level in many places. The volume of water was so great it surged over the road, route 107, north of the Chiang Dao elephant camp! Sunday afternoon the whole Ping / Mae Taeng confluence, just west –south-west of the Mae Ngat dam (with dam water level still below the spillway) was flooding the entire valley. At Mae Taeng the MT river had been way over the road.
It strikes me then that there was ample warning that a huge flood was about to hit Cnx, 24 hrs before it hit the town & what happened? What did the local officials do in preparation for the city’s worst flood in 40 years? Almost zilch in my opinion. Yep it’s a funny country alright. Best to keep smiling & enjoy it while we can.

THE WANG RIVER SPILLED OVER ITS BANKS THIS MORNING

The WANG (วัง) River in TAK (ตาก) province spilled over its banks today.

The Chief of TAK District Administration, Mr PRATET WONGYA (ประเทศ วงศ์ยา) said widespread rain has affected many Northern provinces, resulting in flash floods and forest floods, as well as the increases in water levels in the WANG River.

Mr PRATET added that at 01:00 hrs this morning, the WANG River spilled over its banks, submerging WANGCHAN (วังจันทร์) and WANGMANT (วังหมัน) districts.

Meanwhile, local authorities have been deploying sand bags to be utilized in the flooded areas, while the residents still need to closely follow the news and to take caution for the next few days.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันอังคารที่ 13 กันยายน 2548