Heavy monsoon rains have been drenching Southeast Asia since mid-July, causing mudslides and widespread flooding. The deluge has now reached Bangkok, with rising water and associated problems affecting most of the city's 10 million residents.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that parts of the capital could be inundated by up to 1.5 meters of water and remain flooded for up to a month. Around Bangkok, the second-largest airport has closed, food prices are soaring, clean water is becoming scarce, and the country is declaring a holiday from Thursday until Monday to allow people to evacuate.
The Chao Phraya river is predicted to overflow its banks in the city sometime today, and authorities say that if the protective dikes fail to hold the water, all parts of Bangkok will be vulnerable to the floodwater.
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| Cars are parked on a highway overpass to avoid floods in Ayutthaya province near Bangkok, on October 25, 2011. |
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| Residents evacuate from their flooded town, north of Bangkok, on October 25, 2011. Around 320 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, as Thailand experiences the worst flooding in 50 years with damages running as high as $6 billion. |
