NARATHIWAT: Chekkayah Cheknek’s heart sank as she stepped into her flood ravaged home. The familiar walls were now covered in layers of mud, debris littered the floor, and furniture were splintered, after her house was flooded for days.
The 45-year-old housewife left her house in Kampung Kumung in the early hours of Dec 24 due to the rapid rise in water levels. She, along with other villagers, were safely evacuated to a nearby school.
“We camped in the school for three days. We depended solely on rainwater.
“Though the floodwater receded on Tuesday, I could not return home as the roads leading to my house remained inundated.
“Upon reaching home on Saturday, I was distressed to find my house filled with debris and mud, furniture severely damaged. Now, cleaning up my house is no easy task, the task made harder by the thick mud,” she told Bernama’s Foreign News Service.
Heavy downpour triggered floods in five southern provinces – Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla and Satun since Dec 22.
As the flood situation improves and floodwaters continue to recede, the affected areas are now reduced to three provinces: Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani. The number of households affected by the flood also reduced to 12, 469 compared to 18,783 on Saturday.
Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Chaiwat Junthirapong said a total of 10 districts in three provinces – Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala – remain inundated.
In Pattani, he said there 10,710 households in four districts were impacted by the floods, Narathiwat (1,653 households in four distrcits) and Yala (106 households in two districts).
“However, the floodwaters have receded in all areas,” he said in a statement.–Bernama
