HatYai swamped

FLOOD CRISIS: HAT YAI swamped

Published on December 19, 2005

Road, rail links to commercial hub blocked as town faces possibility of
worst flood ever. The southern commercial hub of Hat Yai plunged into a
state of turmoil yesterday as rapidly rising floodwater stalled all
business and residents scrambled for assistance.

The cost of lost business was estimated at more than Bt500 million. And
Songkhla irrigation chief Udom Thipdecho said last night there was
worse to come.

"We would like to warn Hat Yai people to quickly move their
possessions to the highest place possible as another influx of water is
expected around midnight," he said.

Hat Yai district is the commercial centre and main tourist town in the
South.

The flooding has already forced the suspension of train services
between Hat Yai and Padang Besar, shut down schools and damaged many
roads.

Many Malaysian tourists watched helplessly from their hotels, as the
main road linking Hat Yai and Sadao checkpoint became impassable,
making it impossible for them to return home.

On less heavily-flooded roads, traffic was banked up for several
kilometres as many car owners had parked their vehicles on bridges in
an effort to save them from the rising floods.

The situation is now so critical that the prime minister has ordered
some portions of railway lines in Hat Yai district to be removed to
allow floodwater to flow out of town.

Nakhon Hat Yai mayor Prai Pattano believed the raging flood could be
even worse than the one five years ago.

"In 2000, the floodwater flowed out quite fast, but this is not the
case this year," he said.

There was one death in the town yesterday, which took the overall toll
throughout the South in recent weeks to more than 20.

Padoem Intamanee, 56, died yesterday morning while wading through
floodwater in the municipality. He fainted and drowned.

Songkhla Governor Somporn Chaibangyang said if the water continued to
rise, authorities might be forced to cut electricity for safety
reasons.

Floods had ravaged many other areas of Songkhla, not just Hat Yai, he
said. Nakhon Songkhla municipality, for example, was already declared a
"critical" area with floodwater two metres high in worst-hit spots.

In Saba Yoi district, a landslide killed five people on Saturday night.
Sathing Phra and Ranot districts were also heavily flooded.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department said the sea level was rising
along the coast in Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat,
Songkhla, Pattani and Narathiwat. It forecast more heavy downpours for
the South.

How is the situation in Koh Samui ?
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - 6500 photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

To the best of my knowledge they are swamped too, friend of
mine working there told me that they closed the shop because of
flooding.
Mat