The flooding in Thailand’s central province of Sukhothai is attributable to areas upstream of the province being affected by monsoon troughs since late September, causing heavy rainfall in the Yom River basin, according to Thaweesak Thanadechophol, deputy director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department (RID).
Because the Yom River is narrow and not very deep, the swollen river quickly overtopped its banks, which led to the collapse of embankments in several locations, sending water sweeping through many villages in Sukhothai province, he told Thai PBS Online today.
About 4,000 households have been affected by flooding and more than 16,000 hectares farmland have been damaged.
To ease the flooding in Sukhothai, RID officials have diverted water in the Yom River into the Nan River, through the Hat Saphan Chan sluice gate and the Hok Baat canal, while also reducing the volume of water being discharged through the Sirikit dam in Uttaradit province. Water from Hok Baat canal is also being diverted via Bang Kaew sluice gate into the Nan River.
Thaweesak said that the amount of water flowing through Sukhothai in the Yom River has now dropped to 418 cubic metres/second and will continue to fall steadily, unless another mass of water arrives from upstream.
He said that some of the water that is flowing through the broken embankments has been directed to the Thung Bang Rakham water retention area, which is still capable of holding an additional 200 million cubic metres.
The runoff from the Yom river is expected to flow into the Chao Phraya River in about two days, but the RID has a plan in place to divert the water into the Tha Chin and Noi rivers and the Makham Tao U-thong canal on the east side of the Chao Phraya, and to the west side of the river into Rapeephat canal and Bang Phra reservoir in Chon Buri, by means of a pumping system.
About 1,200 cubic metres/second of water is being discharged from the Chao Phraya River in Chainat province, which is below the maximum volume of 2,500 cubic metres/second, said Thaweesak.
