Phuket Town Mayor Sarot Angkanapilas issued the warning at 11am, urging people to sandbag entrances where they could and to elevate their belongings ‒ especially electrical equipment ‒ to beyond floodwater’s reach where possible.
“The Phuket Irrigation Office has warned us that now there is a mass of water from the area flowing into the Phuket Municipality. Therefore, people are asked to be vigilant. Closely follow the news, weather forecast and the water volume in the canal,” Mayor Sarot said.
“If there is something on the ground, lift it to the top and be careful about electricity and electrical equipment to be raised above the water level. The amount of water in the next half hour will come in more than usual, in addition to the constant rainfall.
“Phuket Municipality has asked for water pumps from the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office to be installed in many areas, and we have asked for support from the Navy and the Army and the Ministry of Education to install water pumps,” Mr Sarot continued.
“But due to the mass of water flowing into Klong Bang Yai, there will be a lot. As a result, pushing water out of the area is difficult, so people are asked to be vigilant for similar flooding like we had on Sunday,” he added.
The Phuket Irrigation Office (PIO) issued its formal warning at 10am, calling for residents in Phuket Town and Ratsada to beware flooding.
The office reported that as of 4pm yesterday that 113.3mm of rainfall had increased water levels at Bang Neow Reservoir, 89.5mm had fallen on Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu and 82.3mm had fallen at Klong Kata Reservoir in Chalong.
The average rainfall over three days, Oct 17-19, was expected to reach 224.7mm in Thalang District, 188mm in Kathu District and 198.1mm in Mueang Phuket District, the PIO reported.
The PIO station monitoring water levels in Klong Bang Yai in Ket Ho Kathu reported that the water level in the canal was 87cm lower than the canal’s banks.
The monitoring station at Satree Phuket School marked that the water level in the canal was just 3cm lower than the banks there.
That was as of 10am, with water still flowing into the canal and widespread heavy rainfall throughout the area.