‘We’ve lost everything’: How floods devastated one of Thailand’s largest cities

HAT YAI, Thailand – When Ms Jantarakarn Kaewjan went to bed in Thailand’s southern city of Hat Yai on Nov 21, three days of heavy rains had caused only some waterlogging in the street outside her apartment building.

But a little past midnight, the rising waters reached her building, forcing her to move her motorcycle from the carpark to a higher floor.

“By 9am, the water was chest deep,” said the 40-year-old gas station worker. “It was all caused by the rain.”

Hat Yai, which has a population of 243,778, received 335mm of rain that day, its highest single-day tally in 300 years, resulting in catastrophic floods.

At least 145 people have died in

floods that have swept nine southern provinces

, including 110 in Songkhla, the province whose capital is Hat Yai, the authorities said on Nov 28.

Ms Jantarakarn and two other residents told Reuters that they had not received clear warnings from the local authorities as the incessant rain swelled water levels, echoing wider complaints of government ineptitude in tackling the crisis.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government has removed Hat Yai’s district chief and transferred its police chief since the disaster.

Hat Yai Mayor Narongporn Na Phatthalung said he initially misread the flood situation.

“I sincerely apologise to the people of Hat Yai,” he told the Channel 3 TV station. “I admit that I made mistakes in managing this situation.”

Plans could not absorb inflow

Hat Yai and nearby areas received 630mm of rain over three days last week, with water rolling down surrounding hills to flood densely populated low-lying plains unable to absorb the inflow.

“This relentless influx of water overwhelmed the city’s waterways and drainage systems,” Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) said in a note, adding that the floods rose quickly.

Now, receding waters have made a muddy mess of the city of low-rise buildings, lively street restaurants and shopping areas favoured by tourists from neighbouring Malaysia.

Lines of cars, parked in a bid to escape flood waters, stood stalled on a wide street on Nov 28.

Bright blue drums spilled out of a warehouse in a commercial area, blocking a lane. Elsewhere, people cleared mud and debris from homes that had been inundated.

More than 16,000 people have been moved to 16 evacuation centres in the district of Hat Yai, the authorities said, as the government approved funds of 4.75 billion baht (S$191 million) to assist flood victims across the province.

Surviving on rainwater

In previous years, announcements by the local authorities warned people to evacuate ahead of possible floods, said 60-year-old Daeng, who gave only one name.

“But this time, nothing,” she said. “We didn’t know anything. We had to take care of ourselves.”

Floods ravaged her home, bringing down the second floor, swamping rooms and sweeping away the family’s TV and even the water tank.

“We’ve lost everything,” she said.

The floods have damaged more than 33,000 homes in Hat Yai and its surroundings, along with five hospitals, 58 schools and more than 700km of roads, an initial GISTDA assessment showed.

Ms Daeng and her family, though stranded in their home, had enough food to manage, but quickly ran out of water, her relative Anusorn Niyomtham said.

“By the third or fourth day, it wasn’t enough,” said Mr Anusorn, 40. “We had to collect rainwater.” REUTERS