Several roads flooded as heavy rain hits Bangkok

Bangkok suffered from heavy rainfall last night. Several communities and roads were swamped due to the high water levels, which reached more than 30 centimetres. The Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt visited several different flood areas last night to find solutions to prevent and solve future floods in the capital.

At 1am today, the media reported that more than five roads in Bangkok were under the water due to the heavy rain last night. The downpour started at about 8pm yesterday and rained very hard for several hours.

According to the report, the rain caused huge traffic problems on many roads, including Rankamhaeng Road, Kaset Nawamin Road, Si Vara Road in the Ladprao area, and Phahon Yothin Road, some roads in the Sukhumvit area, and New Petchburi Road in Asoke area, etc.

Some roads were flooded with over 30 centimetres of water. Drivers had to turn off the air-con, open windows, and drive slowly to avoid damage to their cars. The flooding was so bad in some places that many drivers decided to abandon their cars on bridges and wait for the rain to stop.

Last night, Chadchart and his team visited Bangkok Flood Control Centres to monitor the water levels, driving to view different areas such as Din Daeng, Huay Kwang, Ratchada, Asoke, and Sukhumvit districts.

He Livestreamed his findings on Facebook. The video showed that the flood cut out the engines of many cars along the roads, and people on their way home from work had to walk along flooded pedestrian pathways.

Chadchart promoted solutions to solve the city floods in May’s Bangkok governor election. He said 3,000 kilometres of Bangkok sewers need to be cleaned every year, and the cleaning bill would cost about 3 hundred million baht. The governor also suggested that Bangkok should have more detention basins and develop a database to indicate the risk areas.

The Bangkok Public Relations Department’s official Facebook page updated the flood situation until midnight and also shared pictures of Bangkok officers from different departments working to support residents during the flood.

The Department of the Meteorological Department warned people to be prepared as Thailand will face more heavy rain until Sunday, July 24.

SOURCE: Khaosod | Thairath | BBC