Last night (Sept 22), severe weather resulted in four large power poles falling onto the Patong-Karon route near Centara Villas Phuket, partially blocking the road.
Emergency services were alerted to the incident at around 8.20pm. Initial reports from the scene mentioned some people sustaining injuries after one power pole hit a passenger van and another nearly hit a motorcycle. However, this information was not confirmed in subsequent reports.
Photos and videos taken at the scene showed damaged vehicles but no signs of anybody being injured. No ambulances were visible in the photos and videos.
It took approximately three hours to clear the Patong-Karon road and resume traffic. Many tourists had to walk to their accommodations due to the road being impassable for vehicles.
Friday’s heavy rains resulted in major flooding in Patong, rendering many roads impassable for small vehicles. Streets such as Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, Nanai Road, and Sainamyen Rd were among the worst affected. First responders were called in to assist people, including evacuating elderly residents and children to safer places using boats.
In a live broadcast on Facebook, Vincent Modell from Rescue Team Volunteers Phuket urged motorists to postpone all non-urgent travel due to weather-related risks.
"In some areas, water is waist-deep," Mr Modell warned.
Photos of Mr Modell evacuating people from flooded areas illustrated that, indeed, in some areas, water could be as deep as 1 meter.
"With rain still coming, please take caution while driving and only make urgent trips. While rescue team members are there to help, we need to make sure that we can assist with the most urgent calls first," Mr Modell said, speaking to The Phuket News this morning (Sept 23) before heading to Patong.
"I guess it will be an 18-20 hour shift," he added.
Around 7pm yesterday (Sept 22), the Phuket Info Center reported that several flights were unable to land on the island due to adverse weather conditions.
FlightRadar24 registered a significant number of delayed arrivals and departures from 5pm through 8pm, although no flights were diverted to alternative airports.
Except for the FD3168 flight from Chiang Mai, most delayed arrivals landed within 30 minutes of their scheduled times. The FD3168 flight was delayed by 50 minutes.
Over 20 outbound flights were delayed due to heavy weather, including some with hour-long delays. The SQ735 flight to Singapore was delayed for 1 hour and 20 minutes, while the AK821 flight to Kuala Lumpur departed Phuket with a 2-hour-long delay.
As of 9.30am today (Sept 23) no marine accidents have been reported. Road accident statistics from the national road safety agency ThaiRSC was not available this morning.