Rains Plague Narathiwat; Eleven Districts Flooded in Thailand

Flooding in the southern provinces of Narathiwat extended to 11 districts with the deepest floods in Sungai Kolok reported at about 60-130 centimetres depth.

Sunday's Narathiwat weather is reported as cloudy in all 13 districts with scattered rain in some areas. The main three rivers overflowed their banks, inundating homes and farmlands in low-lying areas.

In other districts, flooding is as 40-60 centimetres deep on average, affecting 38,000 people in 10,000 homes in 11 districts. More than 9,000 rais (3,600 acres) of farmland and 67 main and minor roads were flooded. Ten schools were flooded and are likely to be closed Monday (January 10). More than 450 residents in Rangae, Waeng and Sungai Kolok districts were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Local residents began buying dried food to hoard in fear of rising prices of necessities.

The Meteorological Department office in Songkhla warned of strong winds and waves in the Gulf of Thailand. Small boats should keep ashore in the next few days.

In Songkhla, rubber plantation workers began tapping rubber Sunday (January 9) for the first day after three months of nearly continuous rain.

(Source: http://www.anrpc.org/html/filedownload.aspx?file=JAN10-1[1].PDF)