THE ATMOSPHERE TODAY · EVENT← TODAY'S COVERThailand's flood crest has passed Ayutthaya and is moving down the Chao Phraya toward Bangkok, which is holding. Flow upstream of the capital runs at about 2,382 cubic metres a second, against a safety threshold of 3,600, and the river is expected to stay about 40 cm below the city's barriers. Upstream, the dam still releases its ceiling of 2,500 m³/s, but the flow at Nakhon Sawan is falling. (Handled with care.)
Flooding covers 26 provinces and Bangkok, down from 30 as the north drains, and about 3.2 million people are affected. The toll stands at about 23 in the authorities' count, 4 of them in Bangkok and 1 in Ayutthaya. Riverside communities in Ayutthaya were told to expect a rise of about 10 cm as the pulse went through.
Forecasters expect a cool-air surge from China to bring a fresh round of rain from Monday to Thursday, first in the north-east and then over the north, the Central Plains, the east and the south. Officials say it should not raise the dams much. For basin water managers, pump-station crews and district relief offices, the call is how much to drain toward the Gulf of Thailand during the lull.
27 turning points on record since Aug 21 — the 8 most recent shown.
Intensity is not exposure — Typhoon Choi-wan reaches 145 mph over open sea, while a river without a name affects about 3.2 million people in Thailand..
Crests moving on — Thailand's flood reaches Bangkok's doorstep as Bihar's Gandak recedes from its record..