Bangkok : Thailand was preparing on Tuesday to send an aircraft carrier with relief supplies and medical teams to its south, where more heavy rain intensified the worst floods in years, which have killed 13 people and hobbled rescue and evacuation efforts.
Floodwaters running as high as 2 m (6.6 ft) in some areas have hit nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighbouring Malaysia, across a swathe of hundreds of kilometres devastated last year by seasonal monsoon floods that killed 12.
The Thai navy said it was readying to send a flotilla of 14 boats and the aircraft carrier, Chakri Naruebet, accompanied by helicopters, doctors, supplies and field kitchens that can supply 3,000 meals a day.
“The fleet is ready to deliver forces and carry out actions as the Royal Navy orders,” it said in a statement, adding that the carrier could also serve as a floating hospital.
An estimated 1.9 million people have been affected in Thailand, where the meteorology agency forecast sustained heavy rain and flash floods on Tuesday and warned small boats to stay ashore to avoid waves taller than 3 metres (10 ft).
“Calls have been coming in non-stop in the last three days, in the thousands, asking to be evacuated and others for food,” said a member of volunteer group the Matchima Rescue Center in the worst affected city of Hat Yai.
The rubber trading centre is Thailand’s fifth largest city, where authorities have ordered evacuation after days of rain that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said had brought the worst flooding in 15 years.
