Many pigs have drowned while some were saved by rescue workers after water from the swollen Chi River swept into riverside pig farms in Phra Yuen district of Thailand’s north-eastern province of Khon Kaen.

Some pig farmers told Thai PBS reporters that the floodwater came so fast that they were unable to move their pigs to higher ground in time. Rescue workers and farm employees were deployed to save as many pigs as possible, while the other animals, which were swept away by currents into the Chi River, were left to drown.

13 districts in Khon Kaen province are still flooded today (Tuesday). They are Chumpae, Nong Rua, Phupa Marn, Wang Noi, Wang Yai, Manja Khiri, Kok Pho Chai, Muang, Chonnabot, Ban Phai, Ban Haet, Phu Wiang and Phra Yuen. About 11,800 hectares have been affected.

In Chaiyo district of the central province of Ang Thong, a quail farm owner says he has lost most of the 200,000 birds in his flooded farm and could only save about 10,000 of them.

He said he and his workers had to wade through 1.5 metre deep water to get into the farm to take some of the birds to safety.  He estimated his loss at about two million baht.

Residents of Ban Mo district, in the central province of Saraburi, reported that floodwater from a swollen irrigation canal has been pouring into their houses since Monday night and their houses are now under 1.5-2 metres of water.

Although sand bags have been placed to strengthen the canal’s embankments, water is still managing to leak through.