ASIA/THAILAND - A quarter of the Country's provinces are flooded: flood alert

Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) – Since July, over 600,000 Thais have been affected by severe floods and more than a quarter of the provinces have been flooded. Local authorities have launched an alert for landslides and initiated security measures for the evacuation of the population. The monsoon season is stronger than normal and has so far hit 21 provinces. Some areas of the province of Ayutthaya, north of the capital, Bangkok, have been submerged up to one meter of water. In the village of Ayutthaya, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, during the heavy floods in 2011 many ancient temples were destroyed and damaged.
This year several factories in Ayutthaya and other provinces in the plains in the north of Bangkok have suffered flooding. At least 10 provinces in the central plains of the Country have been flooded, the main producing areas of rice in Thailand, but we still do not know the extent of the damage. In view of further rains, municipal authorities, as preventative measures have provided for the disposal of sandbags around shops and homes in addition of having installed additional water pumps in many areas. In the province of Prachin Buri, 135 kilometers east of Bangkok, more than 700 inmates of a prison were evacuated, due to the flooding of the cells, and transferred to other neighboring institutes. The inhabitants of the lower areas have been told to move to the highlands. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 24/09/2013)