Southern Thailand floods kill 13, leave thousands stranded

After heavy rainfall left thousands of people stranded and at least 13 people dead, Thailand has designated its southern Songkhla province as a disaster zone, according to Thai officials and media reports.

After receiving 335mm (13 inches) of rain on Friday, which was its highest in a single day for three centuries, floodwaters were reaching as high as 2 meters (66.6 feet) in some areas.

According to the Bangkok Post, 13 people died in the flooding, according to Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department on Tuesday.

Seree Supratid, the director of Rangsit University’s Climate Change and Disaster Center and vice president of the National Disaster Warning Council Foundation, reported on Wednesday in a Facebook update that about 150, 000 people were stranded by rising floodwaters in Hat Yai.

As heavy rains continued to pour into much of the area, the Thai government’s cabinet designated Songkhla a disaster zone on Tuesday, according to The Bangkok Post. This was in response to the government’s decision to declare Songkhla a disaster zone.

According to the Reuters news agency, some 2.1 million people have been affected by heavy rains in nine southern Thai provinces, with 13, 000 of them going to shelters. Many others have also been turned off and unable to receive assistance, according to the Reuters news agency.

Thailand’s military announced on Tuesday that it was sending reinforcements to aid in disaster efforts, including a C-130 cargo plane with supplies for medicine, food, and water, 14 rubber boats, and the aircraft carrier Chakri Naruebet, which has two helicopters, doctors, and field kitchens that can provide 3, 000 meals per day.

The carrier could also be used as a floating hospital, according to the military in a statement that the fleet is “ready to deliver forces and carry out actions as the Royal Navy orders.”

Emergency responders who claim they have been overwhelmed by calls for assistance will be assisted by the military.

According to a volunteer group member posted on Hat Yai’s Matchima rescue group’s Facebook page, “calls have been coming in nonstop in the last three days, in the thousands, asking for evacuation and others for food.”

Thousands of stranded people posted on the Facebook page, including Pingojung Ping, who claimed she was one of six trapped people, two of whom were elderly. She wrote, “Pray. The second floor is now,” and she wrote, “Water. Help me, please.

Without rice and water, “we are five people and a young child,” wrote another Facebook user, The Hong Tep. Water is rapidly rising, and the reception of phones has been hampered.

At least 17 power plants in the region, one of the biggest producers and exporters of rubber in the world, have also been affected by floods, according to Industry Minister Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, who reported hundreds of factories flooding.

“A challenging and challenging time.”

More than 19 000 people have been relocated from flood-prone areas in neighboring Malaysia to 126 evacuation centers, primarily along the northern border.

According to images from the state of Perlis, rescue teams scurried into homes while rescue boats ferried the elderly and children to safety.

According to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who urged people to obey evacuation orders, a team of rescuers could travel to the worst-hit state of Kelantan, which borders Thailand.

Source: Aljazeera