Thread: Central Plains brace for severe floods

Three Kalasin districts worry, dam near 2011 water levels

As the Chi River in Kalasin kept rising, provincial governor Kraisorn Kongchalard on Friday instructed officials to increase the height of sandbag flood barriers at risky spots and to keep a close watch in the three riverside districts of Rong Kham, Kamalasai and Khong Chai.


The Wang Yang Dam’s level in Khong Chai has risen to just 34 centimetres below the 2011 level when Thailand witnessed its “worst flooding in half a century”.

All six of the dam’s sluice gate panes were opened to release water at 101 million cubic metres per day.

Khong Chai was the first district to receive the deluge from upstream Khon Kaen and Maha Sarakham provinces.

Three Kalasin districts worry, dam near 2011 water levels

Authorities in Khon Kaen, Uthai Thani rush to control flooding

BANGKOK, 30 October 2017 (NNT) – Irrigation officials in Khon Kaen province are expediting the repair of a damaged flood wall while assistance is being provided for flood-hit residents of Uthai Thani as the situation begins to improve.

Col Jumpol Jumpolpugdee, Deputy Commander of the Third Cavalry Division, has visited disaster relief units from the Sixth and Seventh Cavalry Regiments, King’s Guard, which were dispatched to help the Regional Irrigation Office 6 and the 23rd Military Circle with the repair of a breached embankment along the Ban Khui Pho irrigation canal.

After a 30-meter section of the embankment was broken by flood waters recently, the authorities have joined forces to fill more than 300 gabions with rocks and placed them on the opening to prevent the capital district of Khon Kaen from flooding. So far, half of the damaged section has been restored while the other half is due to be completed soon.

In Uthai Thani, floods continue to inundate low-lying areas, affecting 35 villages in the capital district and five villages in Nong Khayang district. Over a hundred homes and the ancient Wat Uposatharam remain under deep waters. However, the overall flood situation is reportedly easing up, with water levels gradually decreasing. Local officials are helping residents with transportation and are giving out flood relief bags, drinking water and medicine.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon affirmed that authorities from the military, the police and the Interior Ministry are already working their hardest to take care of flood victims. Despite the severity of this year’s flooding, he gave assurances that inner parts of Bangkok will stay dry.

National News Bureau Of Thailand | Authorities in Khon Kaen, Uthai Thani rush to control flooding