High winds and heavy rains slammed into
Pattaya Saturday night, Oct. 11, knocking down trees and power lines,
flooding a large part of the city, and leaving a tangled mess in its
wake. The storm hit the heaviest during “prime time” when weekend
traffic was already at its worst. Shown here, Beach Road Pattaya was
nearly at a standstill as floodwaters ripped across the road towards the
sea.
Urasin Khantaraphan & Teerarak Suthathiwong
A brief but violent storm knocked out power and soaked tourists headed
out for the evening.
Blown in from Pattaya Bay on a huge gust of cold air, the Oct. 13
downpour felled two 20-year-old trees and wrecked 50 stalls at the
Thepprasit Keha Market where more than 1,000 shoppers were out when the
storm hit around 8:30 p.m.
Falling trees took out seven power poles on Soi Yensabai, blacking out
the entire street for hours. Neighbors reported damage to cars,
motorbikes and other property.
The storm tore down
electric posts in Soi Yensabai, knocking out power for hours.
The soi had to be blocked off because some of the electric transformers
exploded and Provincial Electric Authority officials had to wait for the
rain to stop in order to fix the problem.
Residents near Bali Hai Pier reported that four squid fishermen were hit
by the storm as well. The strong winds caused the boat to sink and the
four had to swim their way back. Anuwat Panla-ong, 33, was able to help
the first two victims to shore and they said that two more missing.
Chart Ketmanee, 48, and his 20-year-old nephew were later found by sea
rescue teams.
City maintenance crews
work to clear the debris.
Beach Road was heavily flooded because drainage pipes couldn’t keep up
with the deluge, causing major disasters for people in the area as well.
The rain poured down for over an hour, filling the road with 20-30 cm.
of water and causing the traffic gridlock amid heavy Saturday night
traffic.
At the intersection of South and Second roads, power poles fell and
damaged cars. Several vehicles also were damaged on Soi Khopai.
