48 hours: Deadline Bangkok
In a televised solemn flood warning by Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Palibatra last night, Bangkok residents are advised to stay clam and keep monitoring the situation in the next 48 hours, when the next statement is possible if not flash flood.
"Be alert, but please don’t panic": he told the audience, at a press conference intially intended as an emergency session and scheduled at a cable channel, and later downgraded to serving as an alert and aired on Modern 9 Channel.
"We have 48 hrs to do it. If the reinforcement fails, Sai Mai and Don Muang districts would very likely be hit," he said. If floods hit Sai Mai and Khlong Sam Wa districts, a total of 127,728 people could be affected.
The governor said 1.2-million sandbags, including a million pledged by the government, were needed to reinforce flood walls at Hok Wa canal in Sai Mai district. He repeated a request at the end of the statement and called for the sandbags from any willing donor.
"We thank the government for promising the one-milion sandbags, but we will need them now."
The existing walls along Sam Wa canal must be reinforced from currently half a metre to three metres in height at a six-km stretch, while three-metre new barriers must be built along Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve canals for a 15-km distance. "Normally this will take seven days but we will do it by the next three or four days," he added.
Bangkok residents could in the meantime move their belongings to uipper floors or move up power sockets, he said. If not for this year, this might be useful in the future, who knows," he said. "Problem is now bigger than before, but please don’t panic."
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration officials will keep re-assessing situation and will inform public immediately of any development, while a large number of inmates had been deployed to help with ongoing efforts.
Sukhumbhand earlier said the core of the capital should be quite safe although some threats remained and daily assessment of the flood situation was needed.
Visiting the Leab Khlong 2 community in Sai Mai, Sukhumbhand had officials elevate the community's 1.25km road - as well as the 1.5km Sai Mai Road - by 30cm. The Khlong 2 canal was brimming, so officials opened the canal water gate at 40cm.
The city has strengthened its flood prevention ridges and roads as well as building a 7km-long 50cm-high earth dyke along Khlong 6 canal - due to be completed yesterday. These defences should be enough to protect Bangkok city - provided no emergency occurred, Sukhumbhand said.
The Nava Nakorn flood was far from Bangkok, he said, and could be controlled, so people shouldn't panic. "I disagree with those saying Bangkok is 100 per cent safe because we have a lot of floodwater in surrounding areas - but I believe the city's flood barriers should hold them," he said, adding that officials would monitor things to prevent flooding in risky areas.
Meanwhile, Nong Chok district's 73 communities, submerged for a month now, have called for 24,670 sandbags, 39,700 metres of wooden walkways, and 30 mobile toilets. They want three vehicles to transport people, as many parts of Ruam Pattana and Yangpanthana roads are under a metre of water.
Deputy Governor Pornthep Techapaiboon said Bangkok had had 3 metres of rain this year - triple the usual amount. The city would dig 10 canals to increase its ability to support rainfall of 100mm an hour.
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