City Soaked By Flooding From Recent Rains

November 19, 2012

The monsoon season apparently is ending with a bang and not a whimper, as recent heavy rains briefly flooded Pattaya’s low-lying areas. Stretches of main streets were inundated with water, causing traffic jams. Floodwater also seeped into homes and businesses.

PATTAYA – November 18, 2012 [PDN]; A Pattaya journalist reported that in the afternoon, there was rain pouring hard in Pattaya. It had been raining for many hours, and caused flooding in many roads.

Especially affected areas included Sukhumvit Road in front of Thainamtip Co. Ltd.; at the entrance of south Pattaya Rd.; and near the front of the Nong Yai temple in north Pattaya.

Both inbound and outbound areas had low-lying basins that collected rainwater flowing in and not being able to drain out. In some areas on the highway, the height of the floodwater was nearly 3 feet and small cars could not drive through.

In the center of Pattaya, including areas in South, Central, and North Pattaya, there was flooding that also including areas along Second and Third Pattaya Roads. Pattaya’s Beach Road also experienced flooding from water flowing down to the sea. The flooding caused bad traffic jams and ruined many residents’ properties.

The Pattaya public disaster authorities, along with police officers and police volunteers, joined to take water pumps to help people, and release the stuck cars to soothe the traffic jams. But after many hours, the floodwaters slowly receded and the situation returned back to normal.

The Meteorological Department issued a warning that during Nov 18-19, patches of low air pressure are covering the Gulf of Thailand in the upper area and the upper South, and this system will move toward the Andaman Sea. This weather pattern is causing more rain in the east and the upper south. Also, a high air pressure system from China is expanding to cover the upper area of Thailand and the South China Sea.

This will create colder weather in the north and northeast, as well as thin fog in the morning. Motorists in those areas as well as in the upper Central area should beware of the dangers of driving through areas with fog.

Heavy rain warnings were also issued for the South and the East. Boat crews were also warned to be careful in navigating in the ocean from November 20-24.