Storms rip through areas of Phuket, including food festival

Even the weather is conspiring against Thailand’s tourism recovery. As the annual monsoon season settles in, areas of Phuket have been damaged by storms yesterday, overnight, and into today.

A series of wind squalls, preceding heavy rain, hit parts of the tourist island. One of the spots hit by some sudden wind blasts yesterday was the Kata Karon Food Festival on the island’s west coast. Photos by The Phuket Express show chairs, tents, and rubbish strewn across Karon Park. Still, it was confirmed the festival would continue after a cleanup and will continue through today (Sunday).

Meanwhile, the wind caused palm trees to fall on cables in Phuket’s southeast village of Rawai, sending 5 power poles crashing down on a road. Luckily, electrical authorities were able to clear the road and restore the voltage line. No injuries were reported.

Trees fell on 2 houses in Thalang district, and one tree also fell on roadside cables there. No injuries were reported, and Pa Khlok Municipality did not report whether or not there was a power outage. Even The Thaiger had a tree crash over, ending up laying across the fence at the home of presenter Tim Newton.

Last week, the Thai Meteorological Department warned that from May 27 (Friday) until May 31 (Tuesday), there would be heavy to very heavy rains in the country’s northeast, central, east, and southern regions. Yesterday, the department re-issued its warning for Phuket, saying that waves were 2-3 metres high in the Andaman Sea, and more than 3 metres high during thundershowers.

The department warns ships in the upper Gulf and the Andaman Sea to be careful, and avoid areas experiencing thundershowers. Last week, a yacht capsized in stormy waters in Thailand’s southern province of Krabi. A fishing boat rescued the yacht’s 3 passengers, who had gotten onto a small dinghy.

SOURCE: The Phuket News | The Phuket express | The Phuket News