Beginning on Sunday, Phetchaburi’s Muang district may suffer a 20-centimetre-deep to 50cm-deep flood for 7-10 days, while Ban Laem district could be flooded for nearly a month.
Ban Laem is situated in the area where the deluge would pour into sea, with drainage speed affected by high tides
While inspecting the Phetch Dam in Tha Yang district on Wednesday morning, Royal Irrigation Department (RID) chief Thongplew Kongchan said the Kaeng Krachan Dam contained 730 million cubic metres of water and was releasing water to a depth of 46 centimetres via a spillway.
Downstream communities would suffer few effects from that rapid release, he said, except for some low-lying riverside resorts. The volume of water pouring into the Kaen Krachan Dam had recently declined, and that was a good sign, said Thongplew.
He expected the Muang and Ban Laem districts would get floods 20-50 centimetres deep from August 12 onward as runoffs would pass through the Phetch Dam at up to 160 cubic metres per second.
While Muang would suffer for only 7-10 days, Ban Laem as the Phetchaburi River’s entry point to the sea would endure a month of floods, he said. High tides slow the water drainage into the sea.
The province and related officials would try to minimise impacts and aid affected residents. To lessen the predicted flood problem at Ban Laem, 40 water-pushing boats and water pumps were in place. The boats work best at low tide, while high tides are expected over the coming weekend.
