As the deluge continued, lasting some five hours, pumps were deployed and roads were closed as streets and houses were flooded. The water flowing thorugh Bang Yai Canal in Phuket Town again reached dangerously high levels.
Officials have yet to reveal the extent of the damage from the flash flood, but there have been no reports of damage to major roads or bridges.
At 10pm, Patong Police closed their checkpoint in front of Wat Patong to prevent all vehicles from travelling over Patong Hill from Patong to Kathu. Police on the Kathu side of the hill did likewise at 10:30pm.
The road was reopened to restricted traffic this morning at 7:30am today.
Motorbikes are allowed over the hill in both directions. Only small vehicles ‒ cars, pickup trucks and passenger vans ‒ are allowed down the hill from Patong to Kathu.
Small vehicles are still banned from travelling up the hill from Kathu to Patong for safety reasons.
Work on reinforcing the embankment at the landslide site on the hill resumed this morning.
Meanwhile, cleanup crews have been deployed to areas heavily affected by the flash flood. Many of the streets in hard-hit areas were left caked with mud.