Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday warned nervous Bangkok residents that incoming floods could last for four weeks, as waters inched nearer the city center on the eve of an emergency five-day holiday.
Yingluck told reporters that the capital’s flood barriers might not be able to hold back a mass of run-off water from the north as the country grapples with its worst flooding in decades.
“But I’m 50 percent confident that the inner zone of Bangkok will not be completely flooded,” she said, toning down comments from a day before when she said flooding in central Bangkok was “highly likely.”
The crisis has been plagued by contradictory information from national and local authorities, confusing the city’s 12 million residents who have been bracing for the onslaught of water for days now.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said late yesterday that a large amount of water was moving closer to the city.
“It will get to Bangkok tonight,” he said.
Adding to the deluged kingdom’s woes are fears of crocodiles on the loose from flooded farms — another three were captured yesterday in Nonthaburi Province, north of the capital.
“They are between 1.7 and 1.8 meters long,” an official from the fisheries department said, adding that they knew of no attacks on humans by the escaped reptiles, whose numbers remain unclear.
A high tide this weekend is expected to surge up Bangkok’s already swollen Chao Phraya River, and Yingluck said a “worst-case scenario” would see parts of the low-lying city submerged by “more than 1 meter” of water.
“Initially, the floods in Bangkok will last for two weeks to one month,” she added.
More than 600 inmates, including some on death row, were moved yesterday from the notorious Bang Kwang prison on the Chao Phraya riverbank.
Workers at Dusit Zoo, also near the waterway, began to evacuate some of its residents, including spotted deer and antelopes, while structures were provided for lions to climb up to safety.
Many supermarkets were running low on essential items such as bottled water and eggs as residents stocked up on goods ahead of the expected deluge.
“The most critical shortage is drinking water,” Yingluck said, advising people to boil tap water before consuming it.
On Tuesday, the government ordered a five-day holiday from today through Monday for 21 provinces, including Bangkok, to allow residents to prepare for the inundation or leave.
Government offices will be closed and authorities have urged public and private companies to allow their staff the time off, but the central bank said financial markets and banks would not shut.
Public schools in Bangkok, currently on holiday, are not expected to reopen until Nov. 15.
Bangkok’s main international airport, Suvarnabhumi, is operating as normal, but the domestic Don Mueang airport in the north of the capital suspended flights until Nov. 1 after waters started seeping onto the runways on Tuesday.
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