Floods inundate Thailand's tourist city of Chiang Mai, strand elephants

bangkok — 

Chiang Mai, Thailand's bluish metropolis fashionable with tourists, was inundated by wide flooding Saturday arsenic its main stream overflowed its banks pursuing dense seasonal rainfall.

Authorities ordered immoderate evacuations and said they were moving to pump h2o retired of residential areas and wide obstructions from waterways and drains to assistance h2o recede faster.

Dozens of shelters were acceptable up crossed the metropolis to accommodate residents whose homes were flooded. The Chiang Mai metropolis authorities said the h2o level of the Ping River, which runs on the eastbound borderline of the city, was astatine critically precocious levels and was rising since Friday.

However, the provincial irrigation bureau Saturday forecast that the h2o level was apt to stay unchangeable and recede to mean successful astir 5 days.

Elephants assistance 1 another

Thai media reported that efforts to evacuate elephants and different animals from respective sanctuaries and parks connected the outskirts of the metropolis were continuing Saturday. About 125 elephants on with different animals were taken to information from the Elephant Nature Park, from wherever immoderate escaped connected their ain to question higher ground. About 10 carnal shelters successful the country person been flooded.

Video posted online by the parkland vividly exemplify that attraction and compassion are not solely quality traits.

The video shows respective of the park’s nonmigratory elephants fleeing done rising, muddy h2o to crushed little inundated. Three of them dash done the deluge with immoderate easiness but, according to the park, a 4th 1 is unsighted and was falling behind. It showed greater trouble passing done wrecked fencing.

Its fellows look to telephone retired to it, to usher it to their sides.

High h2o hampers evacuation efforts

Efforts to evacuate much animals were hampered by the precocious water, portion much rainfall is forecast.

Chiang Mai Governor Nirat Pongsitthavorn said that the latest flooding, the 2nd successful six weeks, exceeded expectations.

Thailand's authorities railway suspended work to Chiang Mai, with trains connected the bluish enactment from Bangkok terminating astatine Lampang, astir 1 1/2 hours thrust to the south. Chiang Mai International Airport said Saturday it was operating arsenic usual.

Flooding was reported successful 20 Thai provinces Saturday, mostly successful the north. At slightest 49 radical person died and 28 were injured successful floods since August, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.

In the Thai superior Bangkok, the authorities said Saturday it volition fto much h2o travel retired of the Chao Phraya Dam successful the cardinal state of Chai Nat implicit the adjacent 7 days, arsenic it risks exceeding it capacity. The merchandise of the h2o whitethorn impact residents downstream who unrecorded adjacent waterways successful Thailand’s cardinal region, including Bangkok and the surrounding areas.