Flooding swamps Phuket Town

PHUKET TOWN: More torrential rain overnight triggered landslips and flooding that has left many streets in Phuket Town looking like rivers, with gridlock being the order of the day. Cleaning up and making repairs will cost 50 million baht in municipal funds, new Governor CEO Udomsak Usawarangkura said this morning. The latest downpour topped up a wild and wet start to October, with people wading knee-deep in water through many parts of the island’s capital. Reports of a landslip on a building site in the Kuku area of Phuket Town were being investigated and the Governor said he had heard of a house collapse in Kathu. The 50 million baht would cover the cost of pumping away flood water through existing channels, repairing road damage and housing anyone who had been forced to evacuate their homes, he said. The Governor said that Phuket Town had had 180 mm (7 inches) of rain and Thalang had had 90 mm (3.5 inches) since October 2.