BANGKOK, Sept 12 (Askume) – Thailand on Thursday deployed special forces to the northern province of Chiang Rai, where floods have stranded thousands of people as authorities try to reach them using boats and helicopters.
At least 33 people have died in rain-related incidents including landslides in Thailand since mid-August, according to the government, and nine people have died this week in two northern provinces hit by severe weather caused by Typhoon Yagi.
Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Asia this year, hit Vietnam, killing at least 197 people and flooding parts of the capital Hanoi.
Floodwaters have started to recede in some parts of Mae Sai district in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, but many riverside settlements were still submerged, district chief Narongpol Kid-an said.
“We are working fast to rescue people trapped in their homes,” he told Askume. “Hundreds of people still need to be rescued.”
He said local authorities, assisted by Thai SEAL special forces, used boats and helicopters to conduct the rescue operation.
“The situation is very serious. When it rains, the water level rises very quickly,” Nalongpol said.
The Thai navy said it had deployed nine flat-bottom boats to deliver more than 1,000 aid items to Chiang Rai.
Floodwaters also entered parts of Chiang Rai city, one of the largest settlements in northern Thailand, inundating main roads and urban areas.
Nine of 10 scheduled flights to and from Chiang Rai airport on Thursday were cancelled, according to its website.
Kornchit Chomphudeng, director of the Chiang Rai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said the airport was not flooded but the road leading to the airport was impassable due to rising water levels.
“This flood is more extensive than the recent floods,” he said.
Chiang Rai, a mountainous region divided by the Kok River, was one of five northern Thai provinces hit by severe flooding last month .
Authorities planned to rely on Thai air force helicopters to deliver food and water to about 3,000 people stranded in the Ban Kwai Wua dam area in Chiang Rai, the provincial office said. Another 200 people were stranded inside a school, waiting to be taken to a rescue center.
Thailand’s National Water Resources Office on Thursday issued a warning to 36 provinces, including the capital Bangkok, that heavy rain could cause flooding.
