Bangkok floodwaters ease, but high canals prolong disruption after citywide disaster declaration

Bangkok’s floodwaters receded in many areas on Sunday after days of heavy rain, but high canal levels and water flowing in from surrounding areas left some neighbourhoods flooded. The city’s disaster declaration covers all 50 districts, giving authorities a framework to coordinate relief as residents contend with damaged homes and disrupted travel.

Nearly 4,900 people had been evacuated to shelters and about 52,000 households were affected, according to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration figures cited in AFP reporting carried by CNA on Sunday. Those figures describe the situation at the time of that report; the final extent of damage and displacement was not yet established in the cited accounts.

What the declaration covers

A Bangkok Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command Centre announcement, reproduced by The Nation, designates every district of the capital a disaster-affected area. It says Nong Chok, Suan Luang and Khan Na Yao had previously been designated on 25 September, before the declaration was extended citywide. The signed announcement is dated 25 September; the expansion was reported publicly on 26 September.

The announcement says continued heavy rain had caused flooding, traffic disruption and difficulties in daily life across the city. It cites risks to life and physical safety, as well as damage to private and state property. The declaration allows relevant authorities and other bodies to use their powers under Thailand’s 2007 disaster law and applicable national and Bangkok response plans.

Rainfall and disruption

Reuters reported on Saturday that nearly 300mm of rain had fallen over 48 hours, flooding major roads and partly submerging cars. The weather agency later said more than 330mm had fallen in some parts of Bangkok between Thursday and Sunday, according to AFP’s report carried by CNA. The totals cover different places and periods, so they should not be read as competing citywide measurements.

AFP described people wading through knee-deep water in streets, markets and residential areas, with some carrying belongings in plastic tubs. Reuters reported that residents in some neighbourhoods remained stranded at home even as water receded elsewhere. Arita Sanpoka told Reuters that water in her house had reached waist height, ruining belongings, cutting power on the ground floor and making the bathroom unusable. She said two neighbours in their 80s could not get downstairs to leave.

In another flooded area, delivery rider Rachthanichporn Leeput told Reuters she had walked two to three kilometres through water after it rose rapidly on Friday evening. She said the flooding had stopped her usual work, and she was buying supplies to resell to make up for lost income. Her account shows how access to homes and roads affected livelihoods as well as travel.

Shelters and continuing risk

Reuters said on Sunday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration had prepared 233 temporary shelters and that about 4,200 people were using them. The later AFP report carried by CNA cited nearly 4,900 evacuees. These are snapshots from different reports during an evolving response, not a single fixed count. Reuters also reported that the army was setting up shelters and field kitchens and that the city had designated schools as temporary accommodation.

Chadchart visited a temporary shelter at a school in the Kheha Romklao area on Saturday, 26 September, according to AFP’s report carried by CNA. He said about 1,000 people had been evacuated there. The report described evacuees resting on cots, benches and classroom floors, some with their dogs. City authorities said hundreds of schools would be closed on Monday.

Residents near canals faced particular concern. Reuters reported that authorities advised them to move possessions to higher ground. On Sunday, Chadchart said several roads were still flooded and canal levels remained high while officials worked to speed drainage, according to AFP. The city said the low-pressure system had moved westward and rainfall had eased, but water was still flowing in from surrounding areas, Reuters reported.

Those conditions explain why a break in the heaviest rain did not immediately end the emergency. Authorities were pumping water from major canals and assisting people where flooding remained severe, Reuters reported. A resident living beside the Premprachakorn canal told AFP that his home had been underwater for about 30 hours. His comparison with the 2011 flood described conditions at his own home, not a measure of flooding across Bangkok.