Southeast Asia Hit With Historic Floods
By DENIS D. GRAY
Associated Press Writer
Spawned by unrelenting rains, some of the severest floods in decades have killed at least 130 people in peninsular Southeast Asia, according to the latest reports Thursday.

Three weeks of flooding in southern Thailand have left 52 people dead and thousands stranded without provisions in remote areas while 69 people have perished in central Vietnam, some of them in landslides. Northern Malaysia, where nine are reported dead, is suffering the worst floods in 30 years.

In Thailand, a local government official said tens of thousands of people were stranded without supplies as floods affected nine of 14 provinces in the south.

'Food and water are running out for thousands of families who live in remote areas that the rescue team has not yet reached,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be seen as criticizing the government.

Pensri Kheawkumpai, a disaster official in Nakorn Srithammarat, said 12 people have died in the province. Kaj Sentoyep, a disaster official for the deep south of Thailand, said 40 people have died in the seven southernmost provinces.

Local officials estimate one million people are affected and that it will take at least one month for the floods to recede from most parts of Pattani, Songkhla and Phattalung provinces.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has played down the severity of the floods, saying Wednesday that 'they were not as bad as the tsunami.' State-owned media have reported only 19 people killed.

The opposition Democrat party has accused Thaksin of being slow to help flood victims because the southern region did not support his political party in the last election.

'The government has played down the situation and ignored the plight of the people in southern Thailand because the people in south did not vote for Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) party,' said Sathit Wongnongtoey, an opposition lawmaker.

This year's flooding is regarded as the country's worst in 40 years.

In Vietnam, the coastal Khanh Hoa province has been the worst-hit with 32 deaths. Nearby Phu Yen province had 14 deaths while Binh Dinh province had 11 and central Quang Ngai province had five deaths.

Victims have included two children who drowned and nine construction workers buried under a mountain of earth.

Officials at the national weather center in Hanoi said Wednesday that rains will continue through the weekend, giving little relief to the heavily soaked region. River levels remain high but have started receding.

In the Central Highlands province of Daklak, the country's main coffee-growing region, which has reported seven deaths, the coffee harvest has been postponed, said Pham Xuan Truong, the provincial disaster official. Truong said the floods have damaged about 1,235 acres of coffee.

The latest victims in Malaysia were two brothers who drowned while fishing in floodwaters in Kedah state, said police officer Shahidan Ladin.

More than 18,000 people are staying in relief camps in Kedah, Shahidan said, adding that the state airport remains flooded and many roads, including a major highway, are impassable.

Another 10,000 evacuees remained at relief centers in the nearby states of Perlis, Kelantan and Perak, although numbers were dropping as people returned home, the New Straits Times reported.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who visited flood victims in Perlis, said his government will asses the damage to decide on compensation for poor farmers who have lost their livelihoods, according to the report.

Peninsular Malaysia's northern states usually suffer floods during the monsoon season between November and March, but the flooding in Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu states this year has been deemed the worst in 30 years.

Floods continue in parts of Calif. wine country
Sun Jan 1, 2006 9:45 PM ET

By Kimberly White

FORESTVILLE, California (Reuters) - Heavy rains continued to cause flooding in towns across Northern California's wine country on Sunday, with more stormy weather expected into Monday, the National Weather Service said.

One man, DeeWayne Jackson, 63, died on Saturday when a tree fell on him in a park in Vacaville during the storm, the Solano County Coroner's Office said.

Days of heavy storms swelled rivers and caused flooding and disruption in Napa, the heart of a region renowned for its wines, as well as in other towns north of San Francisco.

"Minor flooding is expected along the upper Napa River late Sunday evening and minor flooding is expected along the upper Russian River late tonight and Monday morning," the service said late on Sunday.

Major flooding hit Guerneville in Sonoma County, the largest resort town along the Russian River, an area of giant redwood trees where some businesses and homes were under water.

"People are reluctant to leave the river area, so there is concern there, especially if the rains continue," said Jean Alves, spokeswoman of the Sonoma County emergency operations center.

Poor road conditions also forced the closure of the main casino in the region, she said.

Officials in Napa, which saw flooding on its streets on Saturday, said the worst had passed and added the Napa River was below flood levels by Sunday afternoon. The 4,000 people who were displaced were allowed back, with some finding homes damaged by water or mudslides.

UNDAUNTED RESIDENTS

In Forestville on Sunday, a two-lane road leading into neighboring Guerneville remained flooded, as were several streets in the area. But local residents appeared undaunted, going about their daily activities as the rain returned.

One couple walked their dog as they tried to survey the flood damage to houses and trailers. Another couple drove to the edge of a flooded street with their groceries, then hopped into a small boat and rowed to their house.

Risks remained, and one driver surveying the region had to brake to avoid a falling tree.

Authorities reported plucking some people from the waters, in some cases by carrying them out on their backs and in others by using a helicopter.

Some agricultural land was flooded, and officials said it was too early to assess material damage. Initial reports suggested that the flooding would not cause significant long-term damage to grape production because vineyards were not growing grapes in the winter season.

Forecasters called for between 2 and 4 inches of rain to fall across the wine country and Southern California beginning on Sunday.

"A couple inches of rain can really affect those areas in San Diego County that were hit by wildfires last year, causing flash floods," said Pete Weisser, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources.

Rain was expected during Pasadena's annual Rose Parade on Monday for the first time in a half century. The last time the "rain or shine" event saw any rain was in 1955.

A few seemed to welcome the inclement weather, however, with some surfers and windsurfers taking to the water across the coast to take advantage of high winds and heavy surf.