By Athit Perawongmetha
HAT YAI, Thailand, Nov 29 (Reuters) – When floodwaters swept into Amphorn Kaeophengkro’s home in the southern Thai city of Hat Yai last Saturday, there was no time to escape.
Instead, her family of eight rushed to the second floor as water levels swelled, eventually spending 48 hours perched atop a table, a window frame and a washing machine.
“We weren’t thinking about anything else except surviving,” the 44-year-old told Reuters by candlelight, as her family began to clean their dwelling after the water had receded.
“We just wanted to make sure everyone around us was safe.”
The floods that have swept through nine southern Thai provinces have killed 162 people, 126 of those in Songkhla, the province with Hat Yai as its capital.
Hat Yai received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain last Friday across two days of heavy downpours, its highest single-day tally in 300 years.
Residents did not receive clear warnings from local authorities as the rains swelled water levels, leaving many trapped inside their homes, Reuters has reported.
Some furniture on the second floor of Amphorn’s home was floating, so her family members found only a few dry and stable spots where they could sit.
“Sometimes we sat at the edge of the window and had to lift our legs to avoid keeping them too deep in the water,” she said, holding a candle inside the darkened home.
It is not yet clear when power will be restored to many flood-hit parts of Hat Yai and surrounding areas.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s government and the city administration have come under fire for their handling of the floods, which led to the evacuation of more than 16,000 people to emergency shelters.
Since the disaster, the national government has removed Hat Yai’s district chief and transferred its police chief.
While stranded, Amphorn said her family would occasionally shout to their neighbours and try to make conversation.
“If a boat or someone passed by, we would shout to let them know what we needed,” she said.
“Even if it didn’t really make a difference, at least we tried to call out.”
(Reporting by Thomas Suen and Athit Perawongmetha; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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