Floods kill 33 in Thailand

Floods that have submerged large parts of northern Thailand for the last two weeks have killed at least 33 people, authorities said on Monday.

The floods, a result of torrential rains caused by two tropical storms, affected 28 provinces and had been especially devastating in the populous northeastern region known as Isan, where more than 22,000 people were evacuated, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said in a statement.

The largest number of evacuees and casualties were from low-lying Ubon Ratchathani province, which had been almost entirely submerged and where water levels reached up to 5 metres high in places, according to Xinhua news agency.

Although data about the scale of economic losses due to the calamity was not yet available, the floods destroyed nearly 4,000 houses and affected more than 325,000 hectares of crops in a largely agricultural region.