Northern Thailand struggles with ongoing flooding

(6 Oct 2024)
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RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chiang Mai, Thailand - 6 October 2024
1. Rescue workers pull a boat through knee-deep waters
2. Muddy water bubbles up in street as boat is pulled past
3. Wide of people wading through flood waters
4. Wide of same people walking toward a stupa, in flood water
5. Wide of monk walking through flood water
6. Wide of man wading through flood water
7. Wide of two motorbikes lying on their sides in flood water
8. Various of water flowing swiftly past bridge in city centre, showing the river is very close to overtopping the banks
9. Wide of cars driving slowly through flood on main road
STORYLINE:
Residents of Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai were spared more rain Sunday, but continued to face flooding in residential and tourist areas caused by heavy seaosnal downpours and rising river levels.

Many people in Chiang Mai, especially the elderly, remained cut off by flood waters that in some areas were waist-high or more, and volunteer rescue teams, often traveling by boat, worked to supply them with food or evacuate them.

Areas popular with tourists, such as the city's Night Bazaar and Tha Pae Gate, were under as much as a meter (3 1/3 feet) of water.

Further complicating the situation, electricity was cut off in some neighborhoods for safety reasons.

This latest flooding in Chiang Mai occurred when the water level of the Ping River, which runs along the eastern edge of the city, began overrunning its banks on Friday.

Although Chiang Mai's airport has continued operating, flooded roads caused delays in accessing it.

Rail service was suspended, with northbound trains from Bangkok terminating at Lampang, about 1 1/2 hour away, from which travelers could transfer to buses.

Elsewhere, provinces in central Thailand were bracing for flooding of their own after the Irrigation Department announced it was releasing water from a major dam that would affect water levels downstream.

AP video by Wason Wanichakorn

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