Thai family trapped by floods clings to furniture for 48 hours to survive
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Residents Amphorn Kaeophengkro, Jaswee Pathan and Rathanawadee Wangsirivej have dinner by candlelight on the balcony of a flooded house in Hat Yai on Nov 28.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HAT YAI, Thailand - When flood waters swept into Ms Amphorn Kaeophengkro’s home in the southern Thai city of Hat Yai on Nov 22, there was no time to escape.
Instead, her family of eight rushed to the second floor as water levels swelled, eventually spending 48 hours perched atop a table, a window frame and a washing machine.
“We weren’t thinking about anything else except surviving,” the 44-year-old told Reuters by candlelight, as her family began to clean their dwelling after the water had receded.
“We just wanted to make sure everyone around us was safe.”
The floods that have swept through nine southern Thai provinces have killed 162 people, 126 of those in Songkhla, the province with Hat Yai as its capital.
Hat Yai received 335mm of rain on Nov 21
Residents did not receive clear warnings from the local authorities as the rain swelled water levels, leaving many trapped inside their homes, Reuters has reported.
Some furniture on the second floor of Ms Amphorn’s home was floating, so her family members found only a few dry and stable spots where they could sit.
“Sometimes we sat at the edge of the window and had to lift our legs to avoid keeping them too deep in the water,” she said, holding a candle inside the darkened home.
It is not yet clear when power will be restored to many flood-hit parts of Hat Yai and surrounding areas.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government and the city administration have come under fire for their handling of the floods, which led to the evacuation of more than 16,000 people to emergency shelters.
Since the disaster, the national government has removed Hat Yai’s district chief and transferred its police chief.
While stranded, Ms Amphorn said her family would occasionally shout to their neighbours and try to make conversation.
“If a boat or someone passed by, we would shout to let them know what we needed,” she said.
“Even if it didn’t really make a difference, at least we tried to call out.” REUTERS
