Hat Yai Faces Total Loss; Volunteer Rescuers Describe "Worst-Ever" Floods

As floodwaters begin to recede in Hat Yai, Songkhla province the scale of the devastation is emerging, with many families losing 100 of their household possessions. 

Many families, separated since the inundation, are meeting for the first time. One woman flying in from Malaysia to seek help from a volunteer foundation after losing contact with her 91-year-old grandmother, a disabled uncle, and her mother.

"I am so relieved because I couldn't reach my mother. We couldn't rely on anyone but ourselves and these volunteers," the woman said. 

Some families have lost 100% of their property and their homes, leaving them financially ruined and in debt.

Celebrity volunteer and rescuer Pla Nakorn, whose team used jet skis in the initial days of the flood to help affected residents, described the Hat Yai disaster as a mega-flood with widespread impact affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

"I have been a volunteer for 14 years, and this is the most extreme, most terrifying, and most destructive event I have ever seen," Nakorn stated.

In addition to the extensive damage, authorities must urgently deal with the rising number of fatalities. Official casualty figures from the government are still pending.

The immediate challenges facing authorities now involve providing psychological support and long-term recovery aid to the victims, alongside the urgent task of processing the bodies of the deceased. -819 (TNA)