The weather bureau has forecast more heavy rainfall in the North and Northeast tomorrow and Saturday.

Anupong said the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and provincial agencies were formulating plans to alert at-risk residents of possible flooding and landslides as well as preparing for evacuation and flood-relief measures.

He added that he did not think that flooding would exceed 2011 levels.

In Nan’s Muang district, floodwater continued to recede allowing residents to begin repairing the damage. Staff of the Ban Don School (Sriserm Kasikorn), which has been closed since Monday due to flooding, also began to clean up the premises.

In Phichit province, the Yom River reportedly rose by as much as 20 centimetres per day, prompting officials to monitor the situation in low-lying flood-prone areas such as Tambon Rang Nok in Sam Ngam and Tambon Bang Lai in Bung Narang district.

Bangkok braces for flooding

In Phitsanulok, water levels in the Nan and Yom rivers were still normal. Chamnan Chutiang, head of the irrigation project in the Yan and Nom rivers, said runoff from upstream would reach Sukhothai’s Sri Satchanalai district tomorrow and Phitsanulok’s Phrom Piram and Bang Rakam districts on Saturday.

Authorities project that the flow of water by then would drop to less than 1,100 cubic metres per second, allowing them to divert some of the flow to Sukhothai City and via the Ban Hat Saphan Chan sluice gate.

Authorities have alerted local communities to prepare for flooding ahead of the forecast rainfall tomorrow and Saturday, Anupong said.

In a related development, the Mekong River in Nong Khai has risen by as much as one metre per day, prompting local authorities to monitor the situation as water levels are just two metres below the riverbank. Muang Nong Khai Municipality is preparing to close sluice gates and activate water pumps to prevent flooding in the city.

Meanwhile, Adisak Khantee, adviser to the governor of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said runoff from the North would pass through Sukhothai, Phitsanulok and Lop Buri in the next two to three days. He added that he believed the Royal Irrigation Department could manage the flow by diverting water to dams and flood-prevention structures along the way as long as there is not more rain.

He also said the BMA Drainage Department had already prepared flood prevention measures to protect the capital.