Walkway to safety Villagers and flood response workers cross a makeshift bridge built by soldiers in Ban Ton Khanun, of Uttaradit’sNam Pat district, which was hit by mountain runoff and mudslides last week. THITI WANNAMONTHAThe flood level in the market and a riverside community was measured at 50 centimetres yesterday and is expected to rise to one metre in the next few days.
More water runoff continues to pass through the Chao Phraya Barrage in Chai Nat with the rate expected to increase to 3,900 cubic metres a second early next week. This flow rate can put riverside communities in the downstream Chao Phraya, including Bangkok, at risk of inundation, said interior deputy permanent secretary Chomchuen Bunyanuson.
The National Disaster Warning Centre warned people in Bangkok and Samut Prakan yesterday to start preparing for floods.
Ayutthaya has already been partly hit by floods. The situation worsened yesterday in Bang Ban district when a sluice gate in Khlong Tanueng collapsed, causing a large amount of water to flow into 50,000 rai of paddy fields. The sluice gate is connected to the Noi River, a subsidiary of the Chao Phraya.
Most of the harvesting has been done in the fields, and they will serve as a water retention area in the rainy season.
Villager Somchit Sawangkit wanted officials to quickly fix the gate as the water is flooding a traditional Thai house made of teak logs. He was worried the entire house would be washed away by the strong currents.
Ayutthaya is among 23 provinces which are struggling against floods.
According to the Interior Ministry, more than 760,000 people have been affected by floods countrywide.
A total of 83 people have died and three are still missing in the flood disaster, the ministry said.
In tambon Nam Phai in Uttaradit's Nam Pat district, which was ravaged by mountain torrents and mudslides last week, rescuers yesterday retrieved the body of one more villager, Pha Khamwai, 82, at the scene.
The search for a five-year-old boy, Yingsak Indisi, who went missing, continued.
The discovery of Pha's body brought the death toll in the tambon to six.
In Phichit, part of a sandbag wall by the Nan River collapsed yesterday, inundating a century-old market in tambon Wang Krot in Muang district.
Villagers were worried the water would damage the century-old community they have tried to preserve.
Meanwhile, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut visited Phitsanulok's Bang Rakam district yesterday to hand over 48 million baht worth of financial assistance to 1,043 affected farmers.
The minister was accompanied by former premier Banharn Silpa-archa.
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