Floods, landslides reported in Thai South, North

THAILAND, August 3 (TNA) - Heavy downpours have caused floods and landslides in Phuket Province in the Thai South and Mae Hong Son Province in the Thai North, prompting local mitigation teams to have provided urgent assistance to affected people. Deep flooding was reported on Monday morning in Rawai Sub-district of Phuket's Muang District, submerging the parking lot of a Tesco Lotus store and local roads, while landslides felled many utility poles and caused traffic congestion on a local road. In Mae Hong Son, runoffs and landslides, following incessant rain overnight, blocked roads and affected about 10,000 local people in many villages of Sop Moei District, where drinking water was, thus, distributed to victims and soldiers deployed boats to help commuters. The Princess Pa Foundation has also dispatched 8,850 bags of necessities to affected people in Sop Moei, which has been declared a disaster-hit zone. Meanwhile, landslides have also blocked a road to the Mae Ngao National Park in Mae Hong Song since July 25, while about 30 roads were damaged and more than 15,000 people in 20 villages have remained in trouble. Major General Chaiyaphruek Aiyapak, a regional director of the Armed Forces Development Command, told reporters that machines have been deployed to repair damaged roads and public utilities in Sop Moei, the task of which will be started after floods recede. (TNA)