UPDATING All Day, Every Day
THE COAST ROAD between Cape Panwa and Chalong is to be closed August 11-13 so authorities can repair toppled power lines and cart away sliding earth from today's landslip.
Original Report
PHUKET: A landslip and overnight flooding marked a return to stormy monsoon weather on Phuket after just one day of sunshine.
The landslip came on the Ao Yon-Khao Khad Road between Chalong and Cape Panwa, on Phuket's east coast. Officials advised large vehicles to seek alternate routes.
''We had a smaller slip at the same spot over the weekend so we had an inkling it was coming,'' said the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation chief for Vichit, Thanongsak Klaicharoon.
Authorities remain on 24-hour alert because of increasing fears of more landslips as the earth on slopes becomes saturated and succumbs to gravity's pull.
Meanwhile, the DDPM in Chalong responded to heavy overnight rain that refilled regular patches of road outside HomePro and other low-lying points.
''New drains are still being constructed outside HomePro,'' said the DDPM's Chalong chief, Narin Damnadee. ''We managed to clear away most of the floodwater quite quickly.''
The weather outlook for Phuket returned to bleak today with rain forecast across 70-80 percent of the island.
Meteorologists reckoned it was a day for small boats to stay close to shore and not venture to Phi Phi or Racha islands but the official view was that there were no restrictions placed on small boats.
Waves of two-to-three metres and winds of 20-35 kph are predicted for the next few days.
Just yesterday the prediction was that the rains have passed and fine weather will continue this week.
In just 16 hrs that "prediction" was proven wrong. Big Time.
A prediction not worth much more than sticking your head out the window. I would expect meteorologists to be capable of more than that, but apparently not.
Sure weather prediction is very complex but when they are as inaccurate as this one was, it is counter-productive in trying to persuade boat operators not to put out to sea when bad weather is predicted.
Ultimately more accurate weather predictions would lead to lives saved.
Posted by Herbert on August 11, 2015 10:39