Today's Updating Report
PHUKET: Heavy flooding struck Patong and Phuket City today, swilling through Phuket's downtown streets to bring traffic to a halt.
Downpours were also deluging other parts of Phuket. In Patong, a spokesperson said waters were knee-deep outside the Patong Hospital.
Cars were unable to use the road behind the Jungceylon shopping mall, residents told Phuketwan.
And the Phuket-based Southern Meteorological Centre (West Coast) warned that the intense stormy weather could continue until Monday.
The weather warning reached Level 5 - the top level, with Level 4 ''Heavy.'' There was an 80 percent chance of heavy rain all day, a forecaster said.
Small boats are advised to stay close to shore on Phuket - especially following the sinking of a tourist speedboat last month between Phi Phi and Phuket with passengers left to wait for rescue in the water.
Phuket International Airport and northern Phuket was particularly hard hit, the meteorologists said, with 30mm within an hour.
Emergency services across Phuket were on standby with officials fearing landslips or even the possibility of people needing to be rescued.
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Floods reached new peaks in Phuket City in August, bursting canal banks and driving hundreds of families from their homes.
Just last week Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana opting to spend as much as 100 million baht to implement flood defence measures.
As the rain continued to fall, it became obvious that those measures cannot come fast enough.
Phuketwan gave readers 24 hours' notice of the storms with yesterday's accurate report forecasting bad weather.
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Posted by Whistle-Blower on September 26, 2012 08:50