Bangkok Prepares for the Worst Flooding in 50 Years.

As Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in nearly half of a century, officials are quick to blame human activity for increasing the intensity of the usual monsoon season and making it a disaster. Monsoon season has claimed nearly 300 lives from the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, and displaced several thousands of citizens. As the flooding continues to spread through Thailand, officials warn that Bangkok could experience the worst (heavy rains, high tides and flooding from elsewhere)--so residents are taking several precautions, stripping stores of their food, water, and candles. Soldiers are frantic, trying to lay out hundreds of thousands of sand bags and protect dikes from boundary battles as people take any measure necessary to keep themselves and their families safe from mother nature.


Director of the National Disaster Warning Center, Cpt. Somsak Khaosuwan, says that Bangkok is simply not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude and blames it on the never-ending increase in population. “This is the sign that we should preserve the forest,” he said. “We’ve hurt nature for a long time, and right now it seems that nature wants to pay us back.” 


More on this, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/world/asia/a-natural-disaster-in-thailand-guided-by-human-hand.html