Nan has taken a heavy battering from floods caused by tropical storm Bebinca which are threatening to displace 1,000 families in seven districts as well as inundating the downtown area of Muang district.
Flood waters were above half a metre in the city centre yesterday as residents were keeping an eye on weather updates which predicted heavy rainfall in the province in the hours ahead.
The storm caused heavy downpours over the upper North which caused the main Nan river to burst its banks and flood large parts of seven districts: Chiang Klang, Pua, Tha Wang Pha, Mae Charim, Santisuk, Phu Phiang and Muang.
In Phu Phiang district, the highest flood level reported was about one metre but still slowly climbing.
Upstream water is being closely monitored as it rushes through Tha Wang Pha district before entering Muang district, which is the economic heart of the province. The water is close to overflowing along a river bank near a bridge in the city centre close to one of the Muang district's major hospitals.
Residents and local emergency teams wasted no time in erecting embankments of sandbags in low-lying areas where 31 communities are at risk of having to be evacuated. However, many roads in the inner city were already flooded yesterday. Some had already become impassable by small vehicles.
Meanwhile, 300 families in tambon Du Tai in Muang district have been hit by heavy flooding. Their homes are slowly submerging and the families are having to rely solely on food handed out by relief officials.
The situation is also severe in the upper northern province of Mae Hong Son where more than 100 rai of farmland has been inundated by flood water after a creek in Pai district swelled overnight.
In tambon Pongsa, also in the district, residents said it was the first time that floods had reached their homes in more than a decade.
In Lampang, runoff from Doi Luang National Park damaged 30 homes in tambon Wang Kiew of Wang Nua district with flood water reaching two metres in many areas. Relief was being delivered by boat to the devastated village as the water level continued to rise due to the persistent rain.
In Chiang Mai, 100 villages in San Kamphaeng and Doi Saket districts were advised to exercise caution due to an overflowing canal in Klong Pha Tak in Doi Saket district. Local authorities were diverting the water from the canal into creeks to ease the effects of flood on the villages.
Moreover, the highway from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai in Doi Saket district was under deep water between the 42nd-50th kilometre markers and not passable by small vehicles.
People in the Chom Thong district of Chiang Mai are also bracing for floods after heavy rain lashed Doi Inthanond, the country's highest peak, triggering runoff that caused the Klang River to flood.
In Chiang Rai, the Sai River that forms the natural border between Thailand and Myanmar overflowed into the busy border market in Tachileik opposite Mae Sai district yesterday.
In the northeastern province of Nong Khai, the Mekong River's level continued to rise prompting fears that water from the river might flow into the city.
Meanwhile, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand has increased water discharge from Vajiralongkorn dam in Kanchanaburi province due to large amounts of water flowing into the dam due to the influence of Bebinca.
