More rains on the way as floods hit centre, north

Around 400 homes and 2,000 rai of farmland in Uttaradit's Thong Saen Khan district were flooded by water nearly two metres deep early yesterday following continuous heavy rain.

Assisted by flat-bottom boats, villagers moved belongings to high ground and were warned not to wade through floodwater for fear of a leptospirosis outbreak.

People living along riverbanks in Muang, Tron and Phichai districts were told to prepare for emergency evacuation.

In Phitsanulok, flood water threatened to inundate Muang district's economic zone for a second time as the Nan River rose to only 0.25 metre below a critical level. With the Sirikit Dam containing water at 91 per cent of its capacity, authorities agreed to stop releasing water for 24 hours in order to ease the situation.

The Nan and Yom rivers carried northern flood water to Nakhon Sawan's Chumsaeng district, causing the Chao Phya River to inundate 200 homes and affect 1,000 residents on the Nakhon Sawan-Chumsaeng Road.

In Angthong, the Chao Phya River overflowed, submerging hundreds of homes on riverbanks in Pa Moke and Muang districts.

The Meteorological Department yesterday reported a tropical depression in the South China Sea was moving northwest at a speed of 15 kilometres per hour and would cause heavy rain in northern, central, eastern and upper-southern Thailand through tomorrow.

People in areas at risk had been warned of heavy rain and flooding, the weather office said.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin has ordered three million sandbags to be piled up along canals and flood-prone areas of inner Bangkok. He has also instructed officials to closely watch the Chao Phya River from September 28 to 30, when high tides will cause the river to rise.

Meanwhile, Lampang authorities warned villagers l iving near the Wang River

to move their belongings to high ground because the Kew Lom Dam will be releasing water in preparation for heavy rainfall.

--TNA 2006-09-24