Bangkok, Sep 26 (EFE).- Thailand on Thursday raised the alert level for provinces across the north, northeast and center of the country, including the northern tourist hotspot Chiang Mai, after weeks of heavy rains caused widespread floods.
“We have mobilized all our troops to help the victims and get the situation back to normal as soon as possible,” the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said in its latest bulletin on Facebook.
In addition to Chiang Mai, the rains have flooded parts of provinces including Chiang Rai, Sukhothai, Phrae, Tak, Nong Khai, Khoen Kaen and Ayutthaya, 80 kilometers north of Bangkok, among others.
The Ping River burst its banks on Wednesday causing flooding in the tourist city of Chiang Mai, where a hospital has had to suspend operations and evacuate patients due to the floodwaters.
Soldiers and emergency services have evacuated dozens of residents and are distributing aid and food to those affected by the floods, the Chiang Mai municipality said on Facebook.
Emergency services have urged people to stay away from the center due to flooding. A photo from state-run Thai PBS portal shows two tourists walking with their backpacks and a suitcase on a flooded street.
While the level of the Ping River dropped to 4.66 meters on Thursday, it is still above the 4.3-meters that would allow the floodwaters to recede.
A crocodile farm in Lamphun province (north) culled 125 of the reptiles on Monday amid fears that they might escape because a wall in their enclosure was washed away by the floods.
Two weeks ago, northern Thailand suffered severe flooding and landslides, mainly in Chiang Rai, due to rains caused by tropical depression Yagi, which left at least 10 dead in the country.
Typhoon Yagi, which was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sep. 8, has caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries after passing through the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in recent weeks.
Monsoon rains in Thailand and other countries in southeast Asia occur mainly between the months of May and October. EFE
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