Local authorities were busy over the weekend assessing damage to properties and infrastructure. In Krabi, an official attached to Nanue Sub-district’s council reported that more than 20 houses had been badly damaged by winds and two were completely destroyed. The storm also blew down 20 rubber trees and smashed 1,500 sugarcane plants.
In Phang Nga, two hours of torrential rain and driving winds rendered 10 residences as uninhabitable and uprooted scores of trees. Municipalities say they will provide funds to help householders repair their houses and have provided temporary accommodation to the two families whose homes were wrecked.
The monsoon season typically lasts from late May to October. Storms and torrential rain are common in the region for the duration of the season. Riptides are another issue that can make swimming in the sea at beaches along the coasts of Phang Nga and western Phuket dangerous. As Phuket’s lifeguards say, red flags mean swimming is not safe.
Violent Krabi Phang Nga storm marks onset of monsoon season
News in Asia
Meteorologists say a severe hail and wind storm which struck the Andaman Sea region of Thailand late last week signals the beginning of the annual monsoon season. Local residents in the provinces of Krabi of Phang Nga say the winds, rain and hail was the worst they had seen in the last four decades.