Flooding updates inThai South

SOUTHERN THAI REGION, December 6 (TNA) - Floods in many southern Thai provinces have been relieving, while those in some others have remained critical, as local officials have accelerated assisting people in affected areas. In Surat Thani, for instance, floods in several areas have been receding, but local low-lying areas have remained under floodwater, prompting Surat Thani Governor Auaychai Intaranak to have ordered agencies concerned to closely monitor the updated situation, especially those in Pun Pin, Kanchanadit, Phra Saeng and Chaiya. Local soldiers have also been dispatched to assist flood victims, including handing them necessaries. In Songkhla, the situation in several districts has been returning to normal, except low-lying areas along the Songkhla Lake, including those in Ranod, Krasaesin and Sating Phra, where local households, farmlands and schools have remained under floodwater, forcing at least 39 schools to have temporarily closed, including those in Sating Phra's Ku Khud Sub-district, in which all nine villages have been submerged by 30-100 centimeter-floodwater. In Phattalung, on the other hand, the flooding situation has remained critical, especially in several areas in Kuan Khanun District, where inundations in some villages have been as high as nearly one meter, damaging about 12,000 acres of local farmlands and orchards and prompting local soldiers and mitigation officials to speed up their assistance to affected locals. In Trang, about 20,000 local households and 12,000 acres of farmlands in some 450 villages of eight districts have also remained heavily flooded, especially in areas linking with Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi, forcing over 30 schools to have been temporarily closed. In Nakhon Si Thammarat, 23 districts have been declared flood-stricken disaster zones, including a business area in the Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality. Local residents said the floodwater started to rise again on Sunday night to a highest level for the second time since December 2,considered one of the worst floods in the provincial heart, while Governor Chamroen Tippayapongthada told reporters when inspecting the updated situation that the province, the municipality and the Royal Irrigation Department have mobilized over 50 water pumps and equipment with water jet propulsion systems to drain out water from flooded areas and if there was no more rainfall, the operation should be successful over the next couple of days. The governor, meanwhile, ordered all districts to closely monitor the updated situation, to speed up providing assistance to flood victims and conduct a survey on damages. (TNA)