Water levels still rising in many flooded provinces

Floodwater levels continue to rise in almost half of the 27 inundated provinces, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said on Monday, as a new warning was issued for people living downstream from the Mae Klong River Dam in Kanchanaburi.

The department said 12 provinces still battled with rising floodwater, but the situation in 15 flooded provinces was improving.

The disaster had affected 1.8 million people, including 163,000 in Bangkok, it said. The number of  flood victims in Bangkok was far below the figure compiled by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, which put it above 700,000.

Central provinces along the Chao Phraya River, including Ayutthaya, Sing Buri and Pathum Thani, still reported rising floodwater, it said without elaboration.

The Chao Phraya Dam management said on Monday it had not released extra water downstream and that the situation was under control.

In Kanchanaburi, the Royal Irrigation Department's Korphong Joeykaew, in charge of the Mae Klong Dam, warned residents downstream of rapid flooding due to the unusually large volume of water being discharged by the dam.

Areas most likely to be inundated were in Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Samut Songkhram provinces, he said.

The Mae Klong Dam in Tha Maka district was also releasing more water due to rising levels in  the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi rivers, which feed the Mae Klong River.

The dam normally releases only 800 cubic metres of water per second but its current discharge is 1,500 - a critical level, officials said, that could cause sudden flooding.