FAR SOUTH Pattani province continued to suffer from severe flooding today (Dec. 1) with floodwater still rising and residents having to wade through it to ask for food handouts, Naewna newspaper said this evening.
While Nong Chik-Pattani road is partially passable today and residents were able to come out to ask for food, in some other areas the floodwater remained high and large amounts of food and water were needed such as canned fish and various types of dried food.
In many areas clean drinking water is in short supply.
Meanwhile the flood situation started improving in Yala yesterday and it is expected that floodwater will drain away completely in two days’ time.
However while floodwater is receding the crisis is not over yet with some areas still inundated and people travelling with difficulty. Moreover some shops have jacked up the price of goods causing people to suffer even more with no government agency having come to inspect.
Ms. Klinmontha Somphong, a vendor in Yala city’s Sateng Nok subdistrict, said the flooding this year is the worst in 36 years with floodwater coming up to her neck and a wide commercial area inundated.
Everyone is affected because the floodwater flowed in swiftly but assistance is still coming in slowly especially in her area of the city. Residents want to evacuate but there are no boats and they have to find their own way out.
In Chiang Rai, Mr. Surasee Kittimondol, secretary-general of the Office of National Water Resources, warned that the South must prepare for a second wave of flooding in the middle of this month with another storm heading that way while La Niña, a global climate phenomenon, is impacting weather patterns worldwide.
He has ordered that some water be drained from Bang Lang dam, located in Yala’s Bannang Sata district, while Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Digital Economy and Society Prasert Jantararuangtong will be visiting the area to monitor the situation as chairman of the National Water Resources Committee.
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Flooding in Yala province. Photos: Naewna
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