Singapore donates flood relief items to
Thailand
Published on Oct 14, 2011
Singapore has pitched in to help victims from Thailand's worst floods in decades by donating sandbags, bed-sheets and blankets
to the Royal Thai Army (RTA). -- PHOTO: MINDEF
By Jermyn Chow
Singapore has pitched in to help victims from Thailand's worst floods in decades by donating sandbags, bedsheets and blankets to the Royal Thai Army (RTA).
These supplies were handed over by Colonel Tony Teo, Singapore's Defence Attache to Thailand, to the RTA's
Director-General of Operations Major-General Chatchalerm Chalermsukh in Bangkok on Thursday.
Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen also wrote to his Thai counterpart General Yuthasak Sasiprapha to
express his condolences over the destruction and tragic loss of lives caused by the floods.
Thai PM moves to soothe Bangkok flood panic
Published on Oct 14, 2011
Thailand's premier moved Friday to reassure Bangkok's 12 million residents over a looming flood crisis, after one of her
ministers briefly sparked panic with an evacuation warning. -- PHOTO: AP
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's premier moved Friday to reassure Bangkok's 12 million residents over a
looming flood crisis, after one of her ministers briefly sparked panic with an evacuation warning.
Science minister Plodprasop Suraswadi rushed out of a flood briefing late on Thursday to say that several areas
in Bangkok's northern suburbs were at risk of being submerged by up to 1m of water after a dyke burst.
But the authorities quickly backtracked, causing confusion among residents who have been braced for
floodwaters to reach the capital after causing havoc across northern and central Thailand.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday that the situation was under control.
'The water level is stable and not increasing. So I would like to ask people not to panic,' she told reporters.
'Minister Prodprasob wanted to update the people about the situation because he was concerned that they were
anxious about it,' Ms Yingluck explained.
'So he just reported about the possibility of what might happen to the people, and nothing happened.
Everything was normal.'
Unusually heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 289 people, destroyed crops, inundated hundreds of
factories and damaged the homes and livelihoods of millions of people in Thailand, according to the
government.
About 110,000 people around the country have sought refuge in shelters.
Currently 26 out of 77 provinces are affected, but conditions in inner Bangkok and at most of Thailand's top
tourist destinations are normal.
The capital is, however, bracing for a large amount of run-off water to reach the city along with seasonal high
tides that will make it harder for the flood waters to flow out to sea.
Bangkok residents have thronged supermarkets in the capital to stock up on instant noodles and other nonperishable food, while flashlights have been flying off the shelves.
Sandbags have been piled in front of homes and businesses in preparation for possible inundation, while some
residents have opted to leave their vehicles in multi-storey carparks in the city to avoid possible flooding.
Central Bangkok is protected by flood walls and the authorities have piled sandbags along the Chao Phraya
River to try to keep water out of nearby areas, whose residents are no strangers to seasonal floods.
The authorities have said they will dredge and drain canals in the capital to allow more water to flow through.
The floods have dealt a heavy blow to Thailand's economy, leaving hundreds of factories under water.
Japanese automakers including Toyota have suspended production in the kingdom due to water damage to
facilities or disruption to parts supplies.
The ancient city of Ayutthaya, about 80km upriver of Bangkok, has been badly affected and the UN cultural
organisation Unesco said it would launch a mission to the World Heritage site to assess the impact.
Bangkok rushes to dig canals to prevent
flooding
Published on Oct 14, 2011
Civilians help Thai soldiers to repair a water barrier near Hi-Tech Industrial estate in Ayutthaya province Oct 13, 2011. Workers
and soldiers raced to finish defensive walls around inner Bangkok on Thursday as floodwater that has covered about a third of
Thailand threatened the capital. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK (AP) - Workers hurriedly dredged canals and cut new waterways around Thailand's capital on
Thursday in a desperate battle to protect the city from the country's worst floods in decades.
One jittery Cabinet official called for the evacuation of an area on Bangkok's northern outskirts, only to take
back his warning 15 minutes later.
At least 283 people have been killed since late July by floods and mudslides that have devastated rice crops
and shut dozens of factories. Bangkok has been mostly spared so far, but some surrounding areas have been
inundated and authorities fear that flood waters rushing from the north will combine with rains in the next few
days to flood the city.
Buildings in many areas of the capital have stockpiled sandbags, while others have built protective walls from
cement and cinderblocks.
Government spokesman Wim Rungwattanajinda said the main canals east and west of Bangkok will be
dredged by Friday to allow more water to flow from flooded northern provinces. He said authorities are also
digging canal shortcuts to help drive water to the sea.
'This is the best method at the moment' to protect Bangkok, Wim told The Associated Press. 'We are all
working against time.' Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the operations will allow the water to exit
through three major rivers instead of just one - the Chao Phraya River which flows through Bangkok - as the
government initially planned, and will therefore relieve the impact on the capital.
Some 8.2 million people in 61 out of the country's 77 provinces have been affected by the flooding, which has
also halted production at many major factories north of Bangkok.
Nervous residents have been stocking up on bottled water and other essentials. Science and Technology
Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi contributed to the panic on Thursday by telling a state-run television channel
that residents in the northern outskirts of Bangkok should begin to evacuate because a flood gate had been
breached.
Fifteen minutes later, Mr Plodprasop appeared with other colleagues from the country's Flood Relief
Operations Center on another live broadcast and said there was no evacuation order and the situation was
under control.
Ms Yingluck's government has been criticised for failing to take decisive action in the crisis, which has been
building over several weeks.
Papua New Guinea jolted by 6.7 quake
Published on Oct 14, 2011
Map of Papua New Guinea locating the epicentre of a powerful earthquake to strike the country on Friday. -- PHOTO:
REUTERS
SYDNEY (AFP) - The Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea was jolted by a 6.7-magnitude undersea
earthquake Friday, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at a depth of 45km (28 miles), 103 kilometres east of the
mountain city of Lae and 326km north of the capital Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea, mired in poverty despite rich mineral deposits, sits on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', a
hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
A giant tsunami in 1998, caused by an undersea earthquake or a landslide, killed more than 2,000 people near
Aitape, on the country's north-west coast.
Mexico: Hurricane Jova death toll raised to 6
Published on Oct 14, 2011
Residents wade through a flooded street in Villa de Coral, Mexico, Wednesday Oct 12, 2011. Hurricane Jova slammed into
Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 2 storm early Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring some six, while a tropical
depression hit farther south and unleashed steady rains that contributed to 13 deaths across the border in Guatemala. -- PHOTO:
AP
MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) - Mexican authorities on Thursday raised to six the death toll from Hurricane
Jova, which hit along the Pacific coast as a Category 2 storm, and warned the storm's remnants could affect
opening ceremonies of the Pan American Games.
The body of a man who apparently had been swept away by a river current was found covered with mud in the
town of Cihuatlan in Jalisco state, said civil protection spokesman Juan Pablo Vigueras. The games are
scheduled to open in Jalisco on Friday.
The five other victims drowned, were killed by mudslides or died in a collapsed house.
Rain from the remnants of Jova may change the open-air inauguration of the Pan American Games in the
western city of Guadalajara, said Bernardo de la Garza, Mexico's top sports official.
Heavy rain falling on Mexico's west coast also may affect training sessions for the games' triathlon, sailing and
beach volleyball, he said. All three competitions are to be held in the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta just north
of where Jova hit land early on Wednesday.
Farther south, a low-pressure system continued to dump rain on southern Mexico and Central America, where
it was blamed for the deaths of 15 people in Guatemala. Rains will likely continue during the next couple days
as the system hovers over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, said the National Hurricane
Center in Miami, Florida.
Guatemalan Vice President Rafael Espada said four people are missing. He urged Guatemalans on Thursday to
use the country's highways only for emergencies, saying several were damaged by the storm or are blocked by
mudslides.
The storm damaged at least 2,000 homes, said Alejandro Maldonado, director of Guatemala's disaster
prevention agency.
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Irwin was expected to weaken as it swirled over the Pacific off Mexico's
coast and was forecast to become a remnant low within 24 hours, the hurricane center said.
Irwin's maximum sustained winds on Thursday afternoon were near 40mph (65kph). The storm was centered
about 145 miles (235km) west of Manzanillo, Mexico, and was moving east at 6mph (9kph).
The depression's was predicted to begin curving away from Mexico by Friday morning and head back out over
the Pacific.