BANGKOK (Reuters) – At least two people were killed and hundreds stranded in Thailand after heavy rains swept through two northern provinces, swelling rivers, inundating settlements and triggering mudslides, authorities said on Wednesday.
The adverse weather, which comes in the wake of Typhoon Yagi – the most powerful storm in Asia this year, has impacted about 9,000 households in Thailand, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.
“Water currents are still strong,” she told reporters. “All agencies are prepared and when the current eases, they will go in immediately.”
The impacts of the storm have killed at least 143 people in Vietnam, where it made landfall on Saturday before moving westwards, with floods forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents living near the swelling Red River in the capital Hanoi.
Thailand’s Chiang Mai province experienced flash floods and mudslides, with two deaths recorded, according to its governor.
In the Mai Sai district of neighbouring Chiang Rai province, which borders Myanmar, rubber boats were unable to reach some flooded areas where hundreds were stuck and awaiting help, said district chief Narongpol Kid-an.
“Helicopters will be used to evacuate stranded residents and deliver food and water,” he told Reuters.
A resident in the main town in Mae Sai, which has a population of over 28,000, said their group of three people was trapped on the second floor of a building after rising water submerged the lower level.
“We have not eaten anything since yesterday morning,” the resident said, asking not to be named.
“It is still raining heavily in Mae Sai. We hope a rescue team or somebody will come to help us.”
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Zaw Naing Oo and Chayut Setboonsarng, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Martin Petty)
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