Bangkok Flood Update

Hello!

It's been confirmed that the majority of Bangkok is going to flood and be under water. Much more than that, we don't know. I could be between 10cm to 2m, it could be all of Bangkok or just some areas, it could last for weeks or just for an hour and no one really knows when it'll hit. That's about the size of it!

Why? An especially heavy monsoon season in the north, build up of water at dams in the north, quite a bit of rain in Bangkok (although it's thankfully been quite dry for the last few days) and high tides making the Chao Phraya river higher than normal. Many of the provinces in the north have been totally wiped out. Although there is flooding every year in Thailand, this is claimed to be the worst in half a century. The flooding has been hard and lasted long. Areas that would usually be reasonably unaffected, like the old capital Ayutthaya, has been under 2 metres of water for weeks. Homes, crops and temples have been destroyed, not to mention the ever rising number of people who have sadly lost their lives.

Ancient temples at Ayutthaya under 2m of flood water

From what I can gather, Bangkok floods regularly. The locals are used to wading through flash floods from the huge storms that rage through the monsoon season. They're even used to flooding in some localised areas - Bangkok is built on a flood plain after all. But Bangkok is not used to quite so much water heading towards them.

Some reports say 10 billion cubic metres of water need to reach the Gulf of Thailand, others say 12 billion. Either way, a massive amount of water is making it's way, slowly but surely towards the sea and Bangkok stands in its way.

Many northern districts of Bangkok have been flooded already and panic is beginning to set in. 2 weeks ago, this was the view of my apartment building.

Small pile of bags and a row one bag high, just to the left of the
security guard

And this was the sand bag wall at school - 2 or 3 bags high

Some preparations were being made. Water was still available in the shops at this point, although many shelves were already clearing pretty quickly. Then on the Wednesday before half term, it rained - and I mean RAINED. It was about lunchtime and we were at school. It was so heavy that within literally 5 minutes the storm drains were full and water was rising in the play ground.

View at the back of the school overlooking the river

About 2 inches of water in 5 minutes

The thunder and lightning was some of the loudest and brightest I've ever experienced and the kids were screaming every time it flashed and cracked. But within 20 minutes it passed and the drains recovered and everything returned to normal. It did make us realise quite how much difference a rain storm would make to the flooding though.

And this is the height of the sandbags now! Again with the
security guard. 

The sandbag wall goes right along the building - I presume they're
expecting flooding from both the river and Chan Road (which floods often)

You can see how high it is! About 4 foot?

The back door to the school theatre is piled high

And the sandbags at school have grown in height...

...and volume

I don't really have any pictures of raging torrents of water or thigh high wading because that, thankfully, isn't happening here. It's very slow and subtle. The river height varies between high and low tide, but it is beginning to breach the banks in the field next to the apartments and the low tide is looking a little like high tide looked last week. Apparently it'll rise another metre or so in the next few days which is when the real flooding will hit the riverside area.

This is a picture of the field outside my apartment windows that my balcony overlooks. Some people live in lean to huts on it and often sit on the pier and fish, or the children swim in the river (not something I fancy!). This is probably the easiest way for me to judge the extent of the flooding at the moment, although for you lot it probably won't mean much. So... the green line is where the river has flowed to so far (when the tide is high). The blue line is the edge of the field and the start of the concrete pier that stands above the edge of the river. The red line is where the pier ends and is above the water usually but it has now covered it completed. The little red line at the bottom is next to a person and kinda shows how big a person is to give the picture some scale. Hmm...think I'll have to work on my explaining skills... :P

The apartments and school are very close to the river. While we are the second building and about 300m away from the bank, if the river does breach we are likely to have water outside the apartments.

The English Thai newspapers have been keeping us updated with maps and charts. Here is one that has been released by the Bangkok Post in the last few days to give an idea about which areas will flood most and by how much. I live in the small red area by the river in the distract marked 4 called Bankholaem which looks like it can expect 1-2 metres. June and family live in Suan Luang to the east of me and looks like they can expect up to a metre. Very much hoping that will not be the case xxx

So, we're preparing as much as possible. Being on the 12th floor I'm lucky enough not to have to move my belongings or worry about my possessions getting destroyed like so make other poor people in Bangkok and Thailand. I'm also lucky enough to have access to clean and safe drinking water as both the apartments and school have their own reverse osmosis machines that will filter the tap water and make it safe to drink (unless the tap water is brown as it has been reported in some very flooded areas of Bangkok). I'm again very lucky as the apartments have a range of measures in place to feed, water and help us should we be stranded in the building for a few days. I'm even more lucky to have family and friends and colleagues who are supportive, caring and are looking out for me both in Bangkok and in the UK - updating me on breaking news, sharing supplies and giving advice. Thank you!

Many people are panicking and being incredibly dramatic - this is frustrating when there are so many people in situations far worse off that we are, having lost their homes, families, health or worldly possessions and being unable to get clean drinking water, food or medical supplies. Many people are being flippant and commenting on how nice an extra weekend's holiday will be - even more frustrating knowing how serious and destructive the flood has been for many people. I would like to think I'm somewhere in the middle - aware of how difficult a time this could be and being sensible and safe but also making the best of a bad situation and remembering how lucky I am. I'll keep you posted!