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Thai floods death toll hits 41
(AFP) – 19 hours ago
BANGKOK — The death toll in Thailand from two weeks of flooding rose to 41 on Monday after emergency officials reported a further three fatalities, as Bangkok stood on guard for rising river levels.
The nationwide floods, which began on October 10, have affected millions of people, damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and left authorities struggling to reach people stranded in remote areas.
Bangkok is on standby and the capital is carefully watching for rising river levels as flood water from the north runs downstream and could coincide with high tides over the next few days.
"We have to monitor the situation closely. We are still in a crisis situation but we have no reason to panic," Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said on television.
Flood walls in Bangkok have been reinforced with 200,000 sandbags and more than 1,000 water pumps are ready, with plans under way for the evacuations of schools, monasteries and mosques if necessary.
The Irrigation Department warned residents close to Bangkok's Chao Phraya river to monitor the sandbags and barriers closely, although it said the water levels were actually slightly lower than on Sunday.
The death toll increased after one person died in the northern province of Nakhon Sawan and two in central Lopburi province, according to the latest report from the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand.
While the waters have receded in the east and northeast, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that the situation in central provinces was a concern.
More than 2.6 million people across the country have been affected by this month's floods, while violent weather has also battered other countries in the region.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
(AFP) – 19 hours ago
BANGKOK — The death toll in Thailand from two weeks of flooding rose to 41 on Monday after emergency officials reported a further three fatalities, as Bangkok stood on guard for rising river levels.
The nationwide floods, which began on October 10, have affected millions of people, damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and left authorities struggling to reach people stranded in remote areas.
Bangkok is on standby and the capital is carefully watching for rising river levels as flood water from the north runs downstream and could coincide with high tides over the next few days.
"We have to monitor the situation closely. We are still in a crisis situation but we have no reason to panic," Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said on television.
Flood walls in Bangkok have been reinforced with 200,000 sandbags and more than 1,000 water pumps are ready, with plans under way for the evacuations of schools, monasteries and mosques if necessary.
The Irrigation Department warned residents close to Bangkok's Chao Phraya river to monitor the sandbags and barriers closely, although it said the water levels were actually slightly lower than on Sunday.
The death toll increased after one person died in the northern province of Nakhon Sawan and two in central Lopburi province, according to the latest report from the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand.
While the waters have receded in the east and northeast, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that the situation in central provinces was a concern.
More than 2.6 million people across the country have been affected by this month's floods, while violent weather has also battered other countries in the region.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
