WEB DESK: Intense rainfall over several days has led to severe flooding in southern Thailand, resulting in at least eight fatalities and forcing thousands of people into evacuation centers in neighboring Malaysia, officials reported on Monday, November 24.
Authorities have intensified their efforts to provide shelter and distribute aid to those affected. Floodwaters, which in some areas reached waist height, have inundated 10 provinces in southern Thailand and eight states in Malaysia, covering vast regions stretching across hundreds of kilometers.
These areas had already experienced significant devastation from last year’s seasonal monsoon, which claimed at least 12 lives.
Residents were spotted using makeshift boats formed from plastic boxes to transport children, while on the outskirts of cities, long lines of parked trucks and buses lined the limited dry roads. Other vehicles painstakingly navigated through the flooded areas.
In response, Thailand’s disaster agency has deployed hundreds of boats and high-clearance vehicles to deliver emergency aid, noting that the disaster has impacted at least 700,000 households since last week. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has instructed the deployment of additional water-pumping machines, emphasizing that assistance must be prompt, comprehensive, and sufficient, according to a government statement.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, over 15,000 people are currently housed in shelters, with 90 evacuation centers established. However, no fatalities have been reported in Malaysia thus far.
