Bangkok declares a state of disaster due to flooding after torrential rains

Bangkok city authorities today declared a state of disaster in all 50 districts of the capital, due to flooding caused by torrential rain. This declaration, which allows local authorities to take emergency measures, comes as nearly 300 millimeters of rain have fallen on the Thai capital since Thursday, according to Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt.

"The water keeps rising. It's hard to get out now.

The water reaches my waist," Somkid Pheuk-ngam, a 67-year-old shop assistant who lives near a canal near the center, told AFP. "I can't go anywhere. My shop has been closed for two days," he added, saying he had not seen similar floods in the city for fifteen years.

Rain has been falling almost non-stop since Thursday afternoon, flooding the streets, causing Bangkok's canals to overflow and infiltrating the numerous buildings that line them. According to the governor, the most affected area is the eastern part of the city. "It continues to rain and we are doing our best.

We are trying to pump water, but the canals are full,” he told reporters.

The governor encouraged patients who are bedridden in their homes and dependent on vital medical equipment to consider temporary hospitalization. In 2011, severe flooding across Thailand claimed more than 500 lives and damaged millions of homes.