In Chaiyaphum province, floodwaters from forest runoff claimed one life. The body of Sawat Areechat, 41, was retrieved yesterday in Tambon Nong Bua Yai in Chatturat district after he was swept away by floodwaters while fishing a day earlier.

Chatturat’s business area and some 300 homes were inundated with water up to 70 centimetres deep yesterday. A hospital was also in danger of being swamped, while the province’s Nong Bua Rawe and Thep Sathit districts reported some 3,000 rai (480 hectares) of farmland and homes in three villages was damaged by up to two metres of water.

In Ubon Ratchathani’s Muang district, inundated municipality roads resulted in traffic jams.

Nakhon Ratchasima disaster prevention and mitigation official Suthep Reunthawil said 21 tambons in six districts of the province were flooded and 8,705 residents were affected despite less than 40 millimetres of rainfall. He said the flooding occurred because old water-retaining ponds and waterways were land-filled and local bodies were not effective in draining water fast. He warned Phimai district residents to expected more runoff in 48 hours.

In Nakhon Sawan province, the Mae Wong River overflowed, resulting in Lat Yao district being inundated while Nong Bua, Tha Tako and Muang districts’ low-lying areas were flooded by runoffs from upstream Phetchabun province and because of downpours.

In Phichit’s Muang district, some 30 homes were flooded with water up to 80cm deep, forcing many residents to travel by boat.

In Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakam district, overflow from the Yom River inundated nearly 10,000 rai of rice fields, while farmers rushed to harvest paddies in an attempt to reduce the damage.

The 12th Irrigation Office yesterday issued another warning for governors of the seven Chao Phraya river basin provinces to brace for flooding because 1,100 cubic metres of water was released per second from the Chao Phraya dam – with the figure set to increase to 1,300 cubic metres per second. Those areas are Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya and Lop Buri.

As residents in Ang Thong’s Pa Moke district and Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district were told to brace for flooding, a banana plantation owner in Pa Moke, Thongjua Yimwattana, 72, lamented having to helplessly watch as her banana-tree field, which were to be harvested in two weeks, was inundated.

In Angthong’s Muang district, a 50-metre section of a stone barrier along the Chao Phraya River near Wat Bote gave way as a result of erosion, sending 10 foundation pillars downriver as the water level kept rising and became a torrent.

Overnight heavy downpours caused flooding on some 30 roads across Bangkok yesterday. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Flood Prevention Centre reported that Klong Thaweewattana’s Bang Cheuk Nang area had the highest rainfall at 117.5 millimetres followed by Bang Na and Bangkok Noi districts at 108mm, and Phra Khanong’s Klong Bang Ore at 102.5mm.