Teenager drowns in flooded area

Written by changthai11 on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

POST REPORTERS

CHAIYAPHUM : A 13-year-old boy drowned in a stream in Chaiyaphum yesterday as officials were draining water from areas flooded by heavy rain. The boy was identified as Latipol Yutakam. He accidentally fell into the stream while watching his friends play in the water, police said.

A strong current washed him away and officials are still searching for his body.

Parents in the area have been told to forbid their children from playing near canals or any flooded areas where water levels have risen due mainly to mountain torrents from the Pa Iang waterfall.

Officials have said five people in the province have died in the floods so far.

In Ubon Ratchathani, water levels in the Moon river have begun to fall, bringing relief to villagers in flooded communities along the river’s banks.

The latest inspection by the Office of Hydrology and Water Management in the province showed water levels in Buri Ram and Surin had been falling at a rate of three centimetres a day.

Although the current at the Seri Prachatipatai bridge in Ubon Ratchathani’s Muang district is still strong, officials said the flooding in nearby areas would recede so long as there is no more heavy rain.

Muang and Warin Chamrap districts have been hit hardest by the floods and more than 1,600 residents have had to evacuate their neighbourhoods, which have been under water.

Outside the municipality, flooding has also destroyed vast tracks of farmlands and roads, according to officials’ report.

Ubon Ratchathani governor Chuan Sirinanporn said the province will build walls around riverside communities in Warin Chamrap to protect them against the Moon river and erect an embankment in Nakhon Ubon Ratchathani Municipality in Muang district.

According to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, flooding in 26 of 31 affected provinces has begun to recede.

Flooding in Phitsanulok, Lop Buri, Ayutthaya, Khon Kaen and Prachin Buri provinces remains at the same level