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    October 27, 2011

Evacuation Orders Issued as Bangkok Facing Massive Flooding

   VOA News
   Thai residents wade through floodwaters to buy food at a hypermarket in
   Bangkok, Thailand, October 27, 2011.
   Photo: AP
   Thai residents wade through floodwaters to buy food at a hypermarket in
   Bangkok, Thailand, October 27, 2011.

   Authorities in the Thai capital Bangkok are urging residents of two
   outlying districts inundated with flood waters to evacuate their homes
   and take refuge in nearby shelters.
   Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra issued the warning late
   Wednesday for residents in the Don Muang and Bang Phalad districts,
   both of which are nearly completely submerged. The airport in Don
   Muang, the second largest in Bangkok, has been shut down.
   Scores of residents are using a government-imposed five-day holiday to
   escape flood waters that are expected to swamp the city later this
   week. Thousands of people are packed into bus terminals and Bangkok's
   main international airport, while highways leading out of the city are
   choked with thousands of cars carrying panicked residents.
   The Chao Praya River is on the verge of breaching its banks due to high
   sea tides, with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra saying the
   floodwaters could be as deep as 1.5 meters by the end of the week.
   Unusually heavy monsoon rain has caused flooding since mid-July that
   has killed at least 373 people across Thailand.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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