A number of elderly and infirm people in Pong Peng sub-district of Ang Thong province were evacuated to safe areas this morning, after more than 500 houses were flooded following the collapse of a floodwall.
Soldiers from an artillery battalion based in Lop Buri province were immediately dispatched to Pong Peng after it was reported that the floodwall had collapsed in several locations, allowing water from the swollen Chao Phraya River to inundate a village.
The unexpected arrival of the water caused commotion among the residents as they quickly packed up their belongings and took them to the road.
Amnart Klaisit, the Pong Peng sub-district headman, told the media that Villages 5 and 6 are now under two metres of water.
Currently, more than 2,600 houses in the Muang, Pa Moke, Wiset Chaicharn and Chaiyo districts of Ang Thong are also submerged.
In neighbouring Chainat province, many households evacuated and took shelter on the roadside at Klong Maharaj late last night, after the Royal Irrigation Department increased the rate of discharge through the Chao Phraya Dam to 2,700m3/s.
Local officials blamed the collapse of several sections of floodwall on the increased discharge rate. About 2,000 households in three sub-districts of Sappaya district are now flooded for the third time this year.
In Ayutthaya province, the water level in the canal around Ko Muang in Muang district rose by 30-40cm in a single night, following the increased discharge through the Chao Phraya Dam.
