Phuket Town Mayor Sarot Angkanapilas put the town on alert late yesterday afternoon (Oct 19) as the water level reached dangerously high.
The monitoring station at Satree Phuket School marked that the water level in the canal was just 3cm lower than the banks there n the north side of town.
Residents were asked to sandbag entrances to shops and homes where they could, and to raise their belongings, especially electrical equipment, to higher safety.
By 6pm yesterday the centre of town was experiencing minor flooding across roads with waters reaching only 20-50cm deep, with Bang Yai Canal breaching its banks in only some areas.
However, concerned the worst was yet to come, disaster officials installed a large mobile pump at the Phra Am Bridge at 11pm last night to help stave off impending flooding.
Yet with rain easing throughout the night and this morning, the floodwaters subsided, leaving the roads clear. The water level in the canal has also subsided.
The Phuket Irrigation Office (PIO) this morning maintained its vigilance, warning that water levels were still exceeding maximum capacity at the island’s three main reservoirs. Runoff from the deluges yesterday had yet to make their way into the reservoirs, the PIO said.
Meanwhile, residents in Soi Paniang in Samkong, on the north side of Phuket Town, were still subjected to flooding, with water still covering the streets and threatening to do more damage to homes.
Disaster officials have been on site to help alleviate flooding in the area since Sunday.