Monsoon rains trigger Thai floods
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Petchaburi residents wade through the flood in Petchaburi province, Thailand.
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BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- Five days of heavy monsoon rains have brought severe floods to Thailand, killing a 13-year-old boy, forcing hundreds of people from their homes and disrupting road and rail transport, officials said.
At least 200,000 people have been affected in eight provinces. More than 1,600 people were evacuated from homes inundated by up to two metres (six feet) of roof-high water, Interior Ministry officials said on Monday.
"This is the worst flooding in my memory," said Governor Kitipong Sunanant of Petchaburi Province, one of the worst hit areas 125 km (78 miles) southwest of Bangkok.
"We got 200-300 mm of rainfall in the past few days, forcing us to release more water from an overflowing dam here," he told Reuters, referring to 7.87-11.81 inches of rain.
The officials said the floodwaters cut nearly 1,000 roads and disrupted rail traffic between central and southern Thailand.
A schoolboy slipped and drowned in fast-running water in Petchaburi on Friday and rescue workers were still searching for his body, they said.
The rising water caused dams and reservoirs to overflow in nearby Prachuab Khiri Khan and Ratchaburi provinces over the weekend, but the rain had stopped in most areas on Monday and the water was receding slowly, they said.
About 20 Thai and Cambodian fishermen have been missing since last week after two trawlers were hit by storms and capsized in the Gulf of Thailand.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
