THE Meteorological Department forecast heavy rain across 44 province including Bangkok during Sept. 3-6 as a new monsoon trough is moving down with people urged to beware of flash floods and mudslides while travellers were warned to check the weather before setting forth as Tropical Cyclone Shanshan, downgraded from a typhoon, is now moving into Japan’s Kansai region, Naewna newspaper said this morning (Sept. 2).
In its forecast for the next 24 hours, the weather department said this monsoon trough is now shifting down from upper North and Northeast and will merge with a low pressure cell in central South China Sea with there also being a moderate southwesterly monsoon covering Andaman Sea, Thailand and Gulf of Thailand.
Waves in the upper Andaman Sea area are moderate reaching two metres and around one to two metres in lower Andaman Sea and upper Gulf of Thailand. These waves will be higher should there be a thunderstorm and sailors were urged to set forth with caution.
Meanwhile Chao Phraya Dam is accelerating water discharge to make room for the gush from the North the new round of heavy rain will bring.
At 6 a.m. this morning this dam’s flow as measured at C2 point in front of Chiraprawat military camp, Nakhon Sawan province, was 1,485 cubic metres per second, up 95 cubic metres/second from yesterday.
This increased discharge will affect low-lying areas outside the embankment in Ang Thong and Ayutthaya provinces. Residents living along Phong Pheng canal in Ang Thong , and Bang Bal canal, Hua Wiang subdistrict in Sena district, Lad Chit and Tha Din Daeng subdistricts in Phak Hai district and along Noi river area of Ayutthaya , were told to move their belongings to higher places and monitor the water level.
However, flooding has decreased in many areas of Sukhothai province after the Yom river water level dropped. Even so, villagers in Wang Yai subdistrict, Si Samrong district, remain worried about this river overflowing again as the embankment beneath Siripanyarat bridge has collapsed.
Parts of Chiang Rai province in the north not only remain flooded as the Ing river is still overflowing the inundation will likely last a long time because a mass of water from Phayao lake in Phayao province is flowing down amid continuous rain.
Villagers in Mae Tam and Mengrai subdistricts, Phayao Mengrai district, are going about their daily lives with difficulty travelling in and out of their villages by boat.
However, as the water level in Mekong river has decreased from over 10 metres high and this in turn led to the Ing river’s water dropping to seven to eight metres, if it stops raining and the overflow from Phayao Lake is reduced, the water level in the latter river will drop faster.
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Top and Front Page: Powerful floodwaters gushing down Yom river broke the embankment beneath Siripanyarat Bridge in Sukhothai on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
Insert: Flooding in Chiang Rai province.
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