THE Royal Irrigation Department said today (Sept. 28) the flooding this year cannot be compared with the great flood in 2011 because the situation is quite different with the four major dams still able to hold more water, Amarin TV said.
Mr. Prapit Chanma, the department’s director-general, said in 2011 there were five tropical storms in a row in July and that filled up all four major dams to capacity with this followed by more rain.
The four dams together are able to hold 12 billion cubic metres of water and this year even if there is more rain they can take in more water.
Currently at the Wat Nam Station C.2 gauge station in Nakhon Sawan province the flow is 2,500 cubic metres a second but in 2011 it was 3,000 cubic metres a second. At Bang Sai Arts and Crafts Centre gauge station in Ayutthaya the flow today is 2,100 cubic metres a second but in 2011 it was 3,400 – 3,500 cubic metres a second.
The water level at the C.2 gauge station is currently 1.88 metres below the bank but it is tending to increase before massing with water flowing down Sakae Krang River and entering the Chao Phraya Dam.
Drainage from Chao Phraya Dam has been adjusted to 2,631 cubic metres per second and this will affect some residential areas on both sides of the Chao Phraya River and the areas outside the watershed in some districts of Chianat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong and Ayutthaya provinces.
Severe flooding in 2011, lasting 158 days, resulted in more than 800 deaths and affected 13.6 million people, according to a study by the American Meteorological Society.
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Floods in Chaiyaphum province. Photos: Amarin TV
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