As emergency measures were put in place across the North and Northeast, the body of Jinda Mahanam, 57, who had been missing following the flooding in Nan on Tuesday, was found yesterday in a longan orchard in Wiang Sa district.

Nan Governor Suwat Phromsuwan sent urgent orders to the 15 districts instructing officials to have personnel and machinery ready for the possible evacuation of people and for potential food-relief operations, as well as inform community leaders and residents about the Meteorological Department’s Dianmu warnings.

The department said the storm over the upper South China Sea would make landfall over upper Vietnam last night and weaken over upper Laos, resulting in heavy to very heavy rainfall in Thailand’s North and Northeast yesterday and today

The department warned residents to also expected severe weather conditions in Mae Hong Son,Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Phrae, Lamphun, Lampang, Tak, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Loei, Nong Bua, Lamphu, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom.

The strong monsoon, which was heading southwest, was expected to create waves up to four metres high in the Andaman Sea and the upper Gulf of Thailand, with all ships using those water warned to proceed with caution.

Small boats were advised to stay ashore until tomorrow.

Nan disaster prevention and mitigation chief Narong Inso alerted the province’s districts to prepare fast-moving teams to respond to any flooding or landslides.

Muang Nan Municipality mayor Surapol Thiansut instructed rescue workers to refuel water pumps and check sluice gates while urging residents to stockpile at least three days of food, candles/flashlights and medicine and closely monitor news reports on the storm.

Nan police chief Maj-General Padol Prapanont told his subordinates to prepare measures to aid any affected residents.

Many households affected by recent floods have kept their belongings on high grounds in case of more flooding. Some areas of Wiang Sa remained under water as deep as 30 centimetres yesterday.

In Mae Hong Son, Governor Pipat Ekpapan warned alerted residents in the province’s seven districts, especially those in recently flood-affected Pai and Pang Mapha, about the possibility of more flooding.

If rainfall exceeded 50 millimetres in one hour, the authorities may be forced to evacuate at-risk residents, he added.

Pai’s Ban Mae Yen village headwoman Jurairat Chanphrommin said her village was still recovering from the August 13 flood that damaged all farmland in the district and some 200 small guesthouses and resorts.

In Phichit’s Sam Ngam district, where the Yom River had been rising up to 10 centimetres a day, local officials have also preparing measures to respond to any flooding.

Runoffs from northern waterways are expected to reach Sukhothai and Phitsanulok provinces this weekend and hit Phichit province next week.

However, Wanchai said the rain in the beginning of the season would be intermittent, but it was expected to be heavier and more consistent in the second half of the season.

The season is expected to end around mid-October, he said.

In the South, especially along the eastern coast, the wet season is projected to continue until December.

 

Yannawa district’s Chong Nonsi area recorded the heaviest rain of 100.5 millimetres, and in Chiang Mai nearly 100 homes and several cars were damaged by gusting winds and fallen roadside trees.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Flood Prevention Centre reported that various areas had suffered moderate to heavy rain on Tuesday night until early yesterday morning.

Chong Nonsi had the most rain – 100.5mm – followed by Samut Prakan’s Klong Samrong area 93mm, and Bang Khun Thien district 82.5mm – in the 24-hour period.

City workers took until 7am yesterday to clear all the 14 flooded areas. In some areas, water was up to 20cm-deep, including Sutthiporn Soi 2 in Din Daeng, the Pradipat intersection area in Phya Thai, and the Chan Road-Ratchadaphisek intersection in Sathorn.

In Chiang Mai‘s Saraphi district, the Tuesday night rainstorm toppled five old rubber trees along the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road – two fell on homes and three blocked traffic. Several power poles were also brought down, leading to hours-long blackouts along the 15km road. The gusting wind also blew away many house roof tiles.

No injuries or deaths were reported, according to district chief Khunawat Sukhanthakul, who confirmed officials were surveying the damage to help victims. As trees blocking traffic were quickly cleared away, officials also removed with heavy machines trees that had fallen on to houses.

In Phichit’s Wachira Barami district, Ban Yang Suwat School in Tambon Bung Bua was damaged by an old 50-metre-tall tree, which came down in the May 16 summer storm. The school remained closed yesterday for students’ safety. Phichit Technical College students and provincial disaster prevention and mitigation officials yesterday cleared away the tree.

 

In Bueng Kan’s Seka district where rainfall continued for five consecutive days and the temperature yesterday morning dipped to 5 degrees Celsius, a 50-year-old man, Nic Chamnandee was found dead in his sleep at a relative’s home. In Phra Charoen district, a 53-year-old man, Banjong Khotmuangyot, was found dead in his home compound and police suspected he had a hypothermia-triggered heart attack. In Nakhon Phanom where the mercury dropped to approximately 9 C, 93-year-old Bualla Khamhen was found dead in her sleep, believed to be due to the coldness.

In Tak province, Myanmar migrant worker Sanda Wae, 30, was found dead in her bed and police suspect it was due to hypothermia as there were no visible wounds or any sign of robbery.

In Rayong, worker Sith Leethong, 33, was found dead early yesterday morning after he was earlier spotted drinking alone in front of his rented room amid the cold 16 C weather.

In Udon Thani, the four people who died include a 47-year-old man in Muang district, a homeless man in his 50s in Nong Han district, a man in his 40s near a bus terminal and another man found dead in his Muang district home.

The cold spell prompted a primary school in Phetchabun’s Khao Khor district to close so pupils wouldn’t have to traverse in the chilly weather to school.

The province’s resort Phu Thub Berk reported a temperature of 0 C with poor visibility due to fog, while Khao Khor district – as well as Muang district – reported an average temperature of 12 C.

In a chilly Sakhon Nakhon province at 7-9 C, the provincial governor sent 6,000 blankets to affected residents in 18 districts, while in Ubon Ratchathani the provincial health office reported a growing number of flu and respiratory patients among children and the elderly, up to 3,300 a day from the usual rate of 2,500 per day.