People in Phetchaburi province, especially in Muang district, have been warned that they might have to endure flooding for up to 1-2 months.
National Water Resources Office secretary-general Somkiart Prachamwong said Saturday that the Kaeng Krachan dam was expected to be filled up to its full capacity in the next 10 hours and then the excess water would spill over the spillways estimated at about 300 cubic metre/second and flow into Phetchaburi dam before it would hit Muang district at about noon on Monday.
The overflow from the dam will push up the water in the Phetchaburi river in the Muang district to a level about 50 centimetres higher than the level recorded in 2016.
Mr Somkiart predicted that Muang district would be affected by flooding as it was last year, but the flooding situation might prevail up to 1-2 months. But he said the Royal Irrigation Department and relevant agencies were prepared to step up efforts to drain as much water as possible into the sea.
Besides Muang district, Ban Laem, Tha Lat and Tha Yang districts are expected to be affected from the increased drainage of water.
Relief and rescue equipment sent by the Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department will be arriving at the command centre at the Phetchaburi provincial hall on Sunday.
An irrigation official said that as of Friday until Saturday morning, water in Kaeng Kracnah dam is steadily increasing by one centimeter per hour, making it necessary for more water pumps to be installed to increase water drainage.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department predicted more rains in the western and northeastern regions today until Wednesday bringing more water into Srinakharind, Kaeng Krachan, Vajiralongkorn and Pran Buri dams.
