PATTAYA LASHED BY TAIL END OF TYPHOON KETSANA

[Faustian]

Well things appear to have been more interesting down there than here!

 

Lots of pics and a movie at the link...

 

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000010550

 

 

 

PATTAYA LASHED BY TAIL END OF TYPHOON KETSANA

 

Pattaya, October 1 [PDN] : Pattaya became the latest victim of Typhoon Ketsana, starting on the night of Tuesday, September 29, 2009, with the main impact hitting the boats of the resort on Wednesday night, sinking 9 tourist passenger boats. Ketsana, now downgraded to a tropical depression, has caused 331 deaths so far and left massive devastation in its wake, including the worst flooding in places in a decade.

 

High seas and strong winds, presaging what was to come, caused a boat to come adrift in Pattaya Bay, which then started battering several restaurants and bars on Walking Street, causing an estimated Bt1 million’s worth of damage and the evacuation of the Seazone, Lobster Pot and Tankay Seafood Restaurants. The main impact, however, came on Wednesday night, as 9 passenger boats, which normally ply their way to Koh Larn, were sunk by 2 metre-high waves. Thankfully, they were empty. Before sinking, some of the unmanned boats again pounded Bali Hai Pier and the bars and restaurants of Walking Street, whilst others drifted into Pattaya Bay.

 

Pattaya Sea Rescue and officials from Pattaya City Hall, jointly led by Pattaya's Deputy Mayor Mr. Ronnakit Ekasing and Mr. Sanit Boonmachai, inspected the damage to seafront buildings and vessels on Wednesday afternoon. In the city, several roofs were blown off buildings and scaffolding on Thaprayah Hill blown down. Chonburi and Sri Racha didn’t escape either, as fishing boats were lashed in their moorings by the high seas and fishing was halted for the duration. As far away as Rayong, boats at sea headed inland for safety, fearing the wrath of the angry seas.

 

 

 

Typhoon Ketsana, has so far caused 331 deaths as is has wrought its trail of terror and destruction across five Asian countries: the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and now Thailand. In its relentless passage, it blew away whole villages in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In the Philippines, most of Manila was left submerged, the country having experiencing some of the worst flooding for a decade. What was then only a tropical storm was still sufficiently strong to kill 246 people, leaving two million dispossessed survivors, before ramping up over the South China Sea and killing a further 74 from flooding and landslides in Vietnam. There, 200,000 people fled their homes. Five hundred and thirty homes collapsed and 100,000 others were flooded or damaged.

 

 

 

From there, Ketsana moved inland to afflict Cambodia, where it killed 11 more. "I have never seen such a strong wind in my life," reported Pang Phot, a police officer in Cambodia's Sandann district,

 

"Many wooden houses were immediately blown away and many others collapsed to the ground. It was raining heavily and people could not flee their homes because the wind hit immediately." In that country, authorities estimate the homes of thousands of people have been evacuated as the storm raged on, picking up speed to 145 kilometres (90 miles) per hour.

 

 

 

Laos was the next victim where it caused one metre-high floods, before being downgraded to a tropical depression on Wednesday, but not before five or six villages had been flooded in Savannakhet Province

 

 

 

In Thailand, Katsana, now considerably weakened, swept into the Northeastern province of U-bon Rat-cha-tha-ni on Wednesday morning, while in Chai-ya-poom Province three dams broke,damaging agricultural areas and state buildings, as well as flooding many roads. In the Southern Province of Sa-tool, located along the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea, fishermen have been confined to harbour as state buildings and 100 coastal houses were damaged by the strong winds and heavy rain.

 

 

The provinces of Kamphangphet, Phicit ,Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Loei, Chaiyaphum, Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket, Surin, Buri Ram, Nakhon Ratchasima, Prachin Buri, Sa Keao, Chanthaburi ,Trat, Ranong and Phang Nga are still vulnerable to flash floods and other forms of flooding.

 

[WorldFun]

so did a 'typhoon' really hit pattaya or was it merely a 'depressed storm' or mild moonsoon?