Nong Khai residents are still suffering severely from the Mekong River overflowing its banks, flooding houses, shops, and agricultural areas in 6 districts along the Mekong River. However, there are recent signs that the water level is slowly decreasing.
Market people in Sri Chiang Mai District, Nong Khai Province, are facing the problem of flooding from the overflowing Mekong River for the second time in two weeks. However, the first time, they could not cross the road and it dried up within a day. However, this time, the mass of water has been overflowing since September 13 and has continued until today (September 15). The strong current of water is still overflowing into the district office, houses, and shops, causing them to close by default. Large shops are losing income of more than 10,000 baht per day, while expenses are still incurred every day. This is considered the most severe flooding situation in 16 years. The water level is higher than this. It was tens of centimeters higher in 2008. The low-l
ying alleys are flooded. The people who are suffering the most are Sois 15, 16, 17. The entire district is affected in 4 sub-districts, 23 villages, and almost 1,700 households.
While the 30-member rescue team from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, led by Bin-Ekaphan Banluerit and Kem Hassawi, traveled from Chiang Rai at 4 pm yesterday and arrived in Nong Khai at 8 am. They had not slept yet, but immediately upon arrival they went to deliver food to disaster victims in Wiang Kuk Subdistrict, Mueang Nong Khai District, before going up to relax, greet the victims upstairs, and show off their skills in making papaya salad. Kem Hassawi created laughter and smiles, which was a great encouragement for the victims.
In Tha Bo District, district livestock officials and Mobile Development Unit 25 successfully evacuated 102 beef cattle from low-lying areas from the floods. They were later given grass and animal feed for the cattle because of a shortage of animal feed crops due to the floods. In addition, Tha Bo District Liv
estock Office, together with Nam Mong Subdistrict Administrative Organization, provided assistance to evacuate 3 farmers’ egg-laying chickens, totaling 2,500 animals, from the high floodwaters.
The Mekong River level is trending downward. The latest drop is close to 13.70 meters, down almost 10 centimeters from 7 a.m., but still overflowing the banks by about 1.50 meters. Although the floodwater in Nong Khai city has not clearly receded, the improvement has led Nong Khai Hospital to announce that it will be open for normal service tomorrow (September 16) after providing services to emergency patients only for the past 2 days.
Source: Thai News Agency