Flood fears grip Bangkok

The flooding in some of the provinces in Thailand has been making headline in the past week or so, and very unfortunately, some people I personally know have been affected by this and were not able to get to the office in the last few days.

As it turned out, some parts of Bangkok have been affected by the flood and we all have been warned to brace ourselves up for this weekend as the most worrying time will be between 16th -18th October when the northern water flow combined with the high tide and projected heavy rainfall could cause severe flooding in the city.

Residents are now fearing the worst, with city residents stock-piling food and supplies and moving their cars to a safe ground. The supermarket was unusually busy at lunch time today, and I saw several aisles of instant noodles, canned food and water were practically emptied out.

Taken off from a recent article from Bloomberg, the current flood situation is essentially Thailand’s worst flooding in 50 years. Already Ayutthaya has been completely submerged, with various industries, including rice farms affected. An SMS update from Thai Visa I received yesterday claimed the following:

• Latest flood figures: 281 people killed, 2 remain missing
• 26 provinces submerged
• 2.2 million people are affected.

The map of the affected area below can also be found here (apparently very accurate and updated on a daily basis):

A few days ago, I came home to a boat docked right outside of our apartment, and when I saw it, I was actually wondering if they are preparing for the flood. It turned out that indeed they are, and this boat actually belonged to the owner of the property who has willingly loaned it to the apartment in case things get dire in the next few days. They also have some sandbags in tow, and  heard from my colleague that there is now a severe shortage of sandbags nationwide.

At this point, I am not sure what to expect, and I wonder if this is all only a speculation which further induces paranoia. The saving grace is that it has not been pissing rain last evening like it did in the last few days.

For now, we are safe, and rather well stocked up in terms of food. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

I am just hoping that Silver Bullet and my parents in law will make it back to our home in time before the flood strikes in the next couple of days.