BANGKOK: Residents of Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, recovering from a massive flood early last month, were inundated again on Thursday (Oct 3) when the Sai River broke its bank.
Local authorities said the river broke its banks at around 9am near the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which links Mae Sai with Tachilek across the border.
The border town of Mae Sai was hit by runoffs on September 11 caused by heavy rains over a mountain range in Myanmar where the Sai River originates.
Volunteers and officials, mostly soldiers, saw all the work they had done cleaning up after the earlier flood undone when the river began overflowing on Thursday morning.
Local officials said heavy overnight rain made the river’s current stronger and it began breaking the flood levees in several villages around the river in the morning.
Affected villages include Ban Koh Sai, Ban Mai Lung Khon, Ban Kor Sang and Ban Pham Kwai.
The authorities warned local residents as well as volunteers and officials clearing the area to shift to higher ground until water levels subside.
Separately, Chiang Mai authorities have warned people living near the Ping River to brace themselves for heavy flooding as the river is expected to be overwhelmed with runoffs from upstream tributaries.
The Upper Northern Region Irrigation Hydrology Centre, based in Chiang Mai, issued a red alert at 11am on Thursday for residents in downtown Muang district to brace for the Ping River to break its bank.
The warning came after the river level at Nawarat Bridge rose to 3.91 metres at 11am from 3.70m just an hour earlier.
The centre and worried residents have closely monitoring the Ping River, which is already bloated with heavy rain.
The centre warned that the river was rising at about 10 centimetres or more per hour due to runoffs from tributaries in upper Mae Taeng and Mae Rim districts.
Residents in downtown Chiang Mai were advised to move their valuables upstairs.
Though Muang Chiang Mai Municipality has raised the flood levee to 4.2m, it believes residents should be ready for heavy flooding because the river overflowed when its level hit the 4m mark late last month.
Shops, houses and a school along the river have put up sandbags for protection, and most locals said they already felt that the river would overflow, so they moved their valuables upstairs even before the warning was issued. - The Nation/ANN
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