BANGKOK: Deep floodwaters in Bangkok drove thousands of residents into shelters as others scrambled to buy groceries or dry out their homes on Sunday after days of heavy rain inundated markets, roads and residences. Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos waded through murky, knee-deep water in the Thai capital, some floating their belongings in plastic tubs -- while others used small boats to traverse submerged city streets.
Evacuees meanwhile rested under pop-up mosquito-net tents in a school gymnasium turned temporary refuge. "I came with only one shirt. It would be great if I can get another," said 46-year-old Sunaporn Thongphajuti who arrived at the school on Sunday.
"What I am lacking is a blanket to sleep with, but I can survive," added the grocery store employee. Thailand is used to wet weather and September is the peak of the rainy season, but several Bangkok residents said this year seemed worse than previous ones. Office worker Bandit Pankan was among those frustrated that official warnings came too late.
"I didn't prepare for it at all," he said. "We got an SMS alert from (the disaster agency) yesterday, but the water flooded in the night before." More than 330 millimetres (13 inches) of rain fell in some areas of the city between Thursday and Sunday, the weather agency said. Nearly 4,900 people have been evacuated to shelters, with around 52,000 households affected by the floods, which prompted a disaster declaration across the capital, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
In the school turned shelter, teacher Namphet Chanjuingtavorn, 47, said she went to her own workplace after electricity and water were cut off at her flat. Now she is acting as coordinator of the makeshift evacuee site where around 100 people have sought food, water and safety. "It's an emergency and the district officials are doing their best," she told Some stores' shelves were emptied over the weekend as residents raced to buy essentials, while fresh produce at market stalls were kept dry in polystyrene foam boxes or hanging just above the water level.
Outside a supermarket where the water reached people's knees, shoppers said they waited for one to two hours in the cashier's queue, because shops closer to home were out of stock. The prime minister's office asked the public to avoid panic-buying and warned that price gouging was a criminal offence. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on social media that water levels in the city's canals were still high, but authorities were working to speed up drainage.