I Should Have Kept My Big Mouth Shut about the Bangkok Floods
In my last post I mentioned my good fortune to have been spared the worst of the Bangkok floods. I even told my family back in Ireland that there was no longer any cause for concern. I’ve been suffering from Thailand flood fatigue so it came as a relief to be able to be able to turn off from it all– I even stopped checking the Thai flood Twitter alerts. I should have kept my big mouth shut, because I’ve angered the Thai gods with my presumptuous claims.
The Floods Have Come to My Part of Minburi
I woke up this morning to a few puddles of water outside our house. The water level has been increasing all day; it is now higher than the worst day of flooding we had here this year. The water is continuing to rise, and it really could end up in our house this time. I’ve predicted this same outcome before so I probably sound like the middle-aged man who cried “wolf”. I guess it can’t keep rising indefinitely so I just hope that it levels off within the next few hours.
I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but the main reason our estate has remained dry is that there has been a pump working around the clock. It is a fantastic piece of machinery. I certainly do not begrudge the few hundred baht we were asked to contribute for diesel. Money well spent is all I can say; I’d be willing to contribute a lot more if I thought it would do any good. The problem is that this pump has nowhere left to redirect the water; we are basically living in the middle of a huge lake. Even the most powerful pump in the world wouldn’t be of much use to use now.
The Waiting is Over
The last few weeks have been so stressful. The worst thing was waiting and not knowing what was going to happen next. There were so many false alarms when we were told that the floods were bearing down on us. It is sort of a relief to have the water arrive now. I guess deep down I never truly expected that we would get through this untouched. The next few days are going to be kind of interesting. I must remember to recharge my camera in case the power gets cut off.
It should take a day from today to see the flood water rise to the knee and another day or two to rise to waist level as it has happen to our house in Rangsit Thanyaburi. You should take the opportunity to move all things up to the 2nd floor, seal up all electrical points with masking tape as well as block off your house drainage system as water will most likely be coming up from there later.
If you notice bubbles coming up from your toilet system, it may signal that water can no longer be flush down and will need to be manually pump.
In the army comes a calling for who wants to evacuate, I highly recommend so as the water will rise and it will be harder to get any form of transport if small cars start to be impassable outside your house.
Before leaving the house, switch off the main electric circuit and good luck.
Thanks James, the speed at which the water was rising scared us so we abandoned ship yesterday evening. This is the second time we fled our home because of the floods – at least this time there was water 🙂
Best of luck Paul…I know they are trying to drain those waters as quickly as possible.
Thanks Steve, I just hope that we do not have to stay in a hotel for a long time. I suppose we are lucky to have the option.