Bangkok residents flee as floods threaten dikes

[redqueen]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Thailand's prime minister said Bangkok was fighting the forces of nature on Thursday as residents fled, rivers swelled and floodwater threatened to burst through dikes protecting the capital.

The country's worst flooding in half a century, caused in part by unusually heavy monsoon rain, has killed 373 people since mid-July and disrupted the lives of nearly 2.5 million, until now mostly in the north and central provinces.

But Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a novice politician who only took office in August, told reporters the crisis had now reached a critical point for Bangkok.

"It seems like we're fighting against the forces of nature, massive floodwater that is causing damage to several of our dikes," she said. "What we can do now is to manage it, so that it flows slowly, otherwise everybody will suffer."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-thailand-floods-idUSTRE79K2XG20111027

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I hope there aren't many more casualties. It's good to see the defense ministry is already prepared and ready to assist with evacuation efforts.

[Atman]

1. Thanks for posting this. We're so wrapped up in our own troubles...

...we forget the misery happening to others on the other side of the world. My sister lives on the island of Samui in the Bay of Thailand. They aren't getting the floods, but everything in Thailand flows through Bangkok (sorry, no pun intended), and the stores on the islands are running out of food and water because nothing can be shipped out. One of her friends posted on FB this morning that they had no milk, eggs, or bottled water (a necessity). And they don't expect it to get better any time soon.

[redqueen]

2. No, probably not.

It's a horrible situation.