State of disaster in Bangkok after extreme downpours

A state of emergency was declared on Saturday in the Thai capital, Bangkok, after almost two days of heavy rain. In some parts of the city, over 300 millimeters of rain has fallen.

The rainfall has caused canals to overflow and put roads, homes and shops under water. Pictures from the city show how residents are forced to wade through waist-high water and how cars are left standing on flooded roads.

Cooking for the stranded

Swedish Hampus Jörnmark lives with his wife and children in Rangsit, a couple of miles outside Bangkok. Now they help cook food for people stranded in a hospital.

- Even if there are shops nearby, they are empty. People have bought everything there is and then they haven't received any deliveries, says Hampus Jörnmark.

In total, there were nearly 300 food boxes that ran out in fifteen minutes when they arrived at the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Half a million affected

The floods have affected large parts of Thailand. According to the country's disaster agency, over half a million people are affected in provinces outside Bangkok.

In the latest national situation report from Sunday, the authorities report eight deaths.

At the same time, the rescue work continues. In several residential areas, residents have sounded the alarm that they lack food, drinking water and electricity.