Storm Noru leaves trail of flooding in northeast Thailand

BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Tropical storm Noru hit several provinces on its path while moving westwards across Thailand on Thursday (Sept 29), causing flash floods in many areas.

Among the provinces affected were Nakhon Ratchasima, Surin, and Nakhon Nayok, which is located just east of Bangkok.

Other northeastern provinces that were hit by the storm between Wednesday night and early Thursday, included Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen, Si Sa Ket, Roi Et, Yasothon, Kalasin, and Maha Sarakham.

Water levels in the Lam Takong canal of Nakhon Ratchasima rose rapidly following hours of heavy downpour.

The northeastern province’s Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital was partly inundated. Soldiers were dispatched to the hospital to install water pumps and build a wall of sandbags to protect it from water overflowing in the adjacent canal.

In Surin, Noru brought heavy rains throughout the previous night, causing severe flooding in many districts of this northeastern province.

Many villages and residential areas, as well as large areas of rice fields and plantations, were affected.

Overflowing water from reservoirs flooded many nearby districts.

Some roads were under 50-70 centimetres of high water, with sections being destroyed by floodwater.

Several areas of Nakhon Nayok, including its downtown Muang district, became flooded due to a flash flood from the national park on the Khao Yai mountain.

Rescue teams were ordered to be on standby for possible evacuation of affected areas.

Storm Noru leaves a trail of flooding, lashing several Northeast provinces

Earlier in Ubon Ratchathani, more than 4,000 people were evacuated from villages where flooding was expected to worsen.

Flooding occurred in the Chi and Mun river basins of the Northeast, covering over 65,000 hectares of land, about 38,000 hectares of them are rice fields, according to satellite images released by the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.