Bedraggled rats can’t cope in Bangkok floods

Even rats couldn’t cope with the treacherous knee-deep flash floods which struck several areas of Bangkok last night. Bedraggled rats piled up on top of each other on the side of Sukhumvit Road, which was hit particularly badly by the floods after hours of continuous and heavy rainfall.

Rats are excellent swimmers and can tread water for up to three days. But even Bangkok’s furry sewer friends were scrambling to find higher ground in an attempt to survive last night’s severe weather conditions.

Twitter user @LJP987 posted pictures of the rats online with the caption “Wasn’t fit for man nor beast on Sukhumvit last night.”

The rain began around 8pm and more than five roads in Bangkok were underwater by 1am. The rain continued into the early hours of the morning.

Sections of Sukhumvit Road became completely impassible and cars and motorbikes were left stranded as people abandoned their vehicles to wade home through the murky waters. Sukhumvit Road was still flooded in many areas this morning as commuters tried to get to work.

Floods also occurred on Rankamhaeng Road, Kaset Nawamin Road, Si Vara Road, Phahon Yothin Road, and New Petchburi Road.

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt visited several flooded areas and the Bangkok Flood Control Centres to monitor the water levels and livestreamed his findings on Facebook. He said he found floods in Huai Khwang, Ratchadapisek, Saint Louis, Navamin, Sukhumvit, and Pattanakan.

Flooding is a problem Chadchart promised to fix as part of his campaign during May’s Bangkok governor elections. Fixing the floods will require a big budget of 300 million baht and 3,000 kilometres of sewers would need to be dredged every year to prevent flooding, said Chadchart.

Officials said a power outage at a water-pumping station in Din Daeng district delayed flood drainage in the area.

The boat service along the Saen Saeb canal has been temporarily suspended due to high water levels.

More heavy rainfall and flash flooding is expected all over Thailand until Sunday.

SOURCE: Twitter