The disaster prevention and mitigation centre of the northeastern border province of Nakhon Phanom has declared seven districts a flood disaster zone as water in the Mekong River has continued to rise.
The seven districts are Tha Uthen, Phon Sawan, That Phanom, Renu Nakhon, Pla Pak, Muang and Ban Phaeng.
Nearly two weeks of continuous rain has caused water in the Mekong River to rise. The water level in front of the Muang Nakhon Phanom Municipality was measured at 10.80 metres this morning, 11 centimetres higher than yesterday, and 2.20 metres away from the spill-over point.
The persistent rain was brought by the low pressure covering the Tonkin Bay in upper Vietnam, augmented by the southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea, causing widespread rain with isolated downpours in the upper part of the country.
The Nakhon Phanom meteorological office has issued a warning for people in low-lying and risk areas to brace for overflows from the Mekong River during the next four to five days.
