Bangkok rush defense. Flood 48 hours before the deadline

In a televised solemn flood warning by Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Palibatra last night, Bangkok residents are advised to stay clam and keep monitoring the situation in the next 48 hours, when the next statement is possible if not flash flood.

“Be alert, but please don’t panic”: he told the audience, at a press conference intially intended as an emergency session and scheduled at a cable channel, and later downgraded to serving as an alert and aired on Modern 9 Channel.

“We have 48 hrs to do it. If the reinforcement fails, Sai Mai and Don Muang districts would very likely be hit,” he said.

The governor said 1.2-million sandbags, including a million pledged by the government, were needed to reinforce flood walls at Hok Wa canal in Sai Mai district. He repeated a request at the end of the statement and called for the sandbags from any willing donor.

“We thank the government for promising the one-milion sandbags, but we will need them now.

The existing walls along Sam Wa canal must be reinforced from currently half a metre to three metres in height at a six-km stretch, while three-metre new barriers must be built along Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve canals for a 15-km distance. “Normally this will take seven days but we will do it by the next three or four days,” he added.

Bangkok residents could in the meantime move their belongings to uipper floors or move up power sockets, he said. If not for this year, this might be useful in the future, who knows,” he said. “Problem is now bigger than before, but please don’t panic.”

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration officials will keep re-assessing situation and will inform public immediately of any development, while a large number of inmates had been deployed to help with ongoing efforts.

 

from http://www.nationmultimedia.com