Fighting floods with early warning gadgets

BANGKOK, 12 September 2012: As part of the battle to fight floods, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will install 800 flood warning monitors so-called “early warning devises” in flood-prone areas throughout the country.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, said Monday that over 800 early warning devises would be installed in flood-prone areas to raise confidence at community level and give residents sufficient warning to evacuate in the case of an emergency.

“There are the three lights showing on the Early Warning displays — green (normal) amber (be alert) and red for an immediate evacuation of the area.”

The machines will be installed in Sukhothai one of the country World Heritage towns that suffered flash flooding earlier this week. However, historical sites that are located about 3 km from the town centre were not flooded.

The Science and Technology Minister and Water and Flood Management Committee chairman, Plodprasop Suraswadi, expects the water level in Sukhothai to decrease within two days.

“The authority shut down a sluice gate to reduce the water level before repairing a damaged Yom River dyke,” he said.

The chairman is confident the water released from Sukhothai will not affect areas in Nakhon Sawan, saying the Chao Phraya River could accommodate the additional water flow.

He also insisted that there will be no major flooding this year, claiming this year’s rainfall was down by 20%.

Regarding six districts in Ayutthaya province that were hit by flooding, he rejected criticism that the flooding resulted from the government’s water release test in Bangkok.

The six flooded districts are: Bang Ban; Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya; Sena; Phak Hai; Bang Pa-in; and Bang Sai. They are close to the proposed site for the World Expo 2020 bid process. If that area was flooded it would send a very negative message to the World Expo committee members that decide on the 2020 bids.

Ayutthaya governor, Withaya Pewpong, said he had sent an urgent order to district chiefs and local administrations to provide assistance to affected riverside communities as needed.

Overflow from the Chao Phraya River have swamped Wat Boonkannawas in Sai Noi sub-district of Bang Ban district where construction of a floodwall around the temple has not yet been completed. A camp area for construction workers and heavy machinery was inundated.

Ayutthaya was the worst hit province during last year’s flood which caused considerable damage to World Heritage sites.

Sourced: ttrweekly