Bangkok has been officially declared a disaster zone by city officials following severe flooding that submerged streets in Thailand’s capital with waist-high water. The declaration was issued towards the end of last week in response to the extensive damage caused by continuous heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
The catastrophic flooding was driven by an active cell of low pressure that settled over central Thailand. This weather system brought unrelenting downpours to Bangkok and surrounding regions, with the weak area of low pressure initially traveling north-westwards up the Gulf of Thailand before settling over the central region by Friday morning.
For two days, the low-pressure cell remained roughly in situ, intensifying the torrential rainfall. The severity of the precipitation was highlighted by a weather station near Prachin Buri, located just north-east of the capital, which recorded 213.5mm of rain within a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday evening local time. To provide context, this amount is nearly equal to the average annual rainfall of 585mm received in London.
Conditions began to improve on Sunday when the center of the low-pressure cell shifted north-westwards. This movement marked the end of the torrential rainfall that had plagued the capital and its neighboring areas for the previous 48 hours.
While Thailand grapples with the aftermath of the floods, other parts of the world are facing their own weather challenges. In Hawaii, Hurricane Nolo is currently threatening the Big Island, adding to the global focus on severe weather events.
<small>Source: The Guardian — read the original story there.</small>