BANGKOK: More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to severe flooding in southern Thailand, where the death toll climbed to 29, officials said on Wednesday (Dec 4).
Days more heavy rain are forecast in the area, which has already been battered by torrential floodwaters, with more than 155,000 households currently affected, according to the Thai government’s public relations department.
Five southern provinces have been hit – Pattani, Narathiwat, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung – forcing more than 33,000 people to leave their homes, the spokesperson for Thailand’s ministry of public health said in a statement.
The death toll now stands at 29, up from 25 reported on Tuesday.
The spokesperson for Ministry of Public Health said mental health teams have been deployed to provide support and care for those affected.
A woman from Tak Bai district, Narathiwat province, told state broadcaster Thai PBS that she had not returned home for three days, choosing to stay in a temporary shelter at a local temple after her house was inundated by floodwaters.
The Thai Meteorological Department warned Wednesday morning that low pressure moving from the South China Sea across Malaysia and the Andaman Sea was expected to bring heavy rainfall and further flooding to southern Thailand.
The Department of Mineral Resources also warned of potential landslides and flash floods until Dec 5.
