BANGKOK, 13 Jan 2014 The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reported that cold spell has hit 44 provinces while drought has expanded to 17 districts in 4 provinces.
Emergency disaster zones have been declared in 44 provinces or 526 districts hit by the cold weather, affecting 7.6 million households or roughly 24 million people in 17 northern provinces, 20 northeastern provinces, 6 central provinces and 1 eastern province.
Meanwhile, drought-disaster zones have been declared in 17 districts of four provinces including Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham, Buriram and Singburi. Major reservoirs of the country are holding a combined volume of 50,600 million cubic meters of water or 72 percent of their total capacity. The amount is 3,000 million cubic meters higher than last year.
