Phuket blackout leaves underpass underwater

PHUKET: Traffic ground to a crawl at the Darasamuth underpass on Monday after a three-hour power outage rendered pumps useless and allowed heavy rain to flood the underground road.

The underpass construction site, located in front of the Central Festival Phuket shopping mall on the bypass road, lost power supply after a transformer blew, explained Samak Luedwonghad, director of the Phuket Highways Office.

“We lost our drainage system as soon as the power went down at about 2pm,” he said. “Our three pumps stopped working, which allowed flood water in the underpass to rise to about 30 centimeters.”

Traffic Police were called in to direct smaller vehicles away from the underpass.

Related news

“Trucks, vans and pick-ups were allowed to continue through the underpass, but motorbikes and sedans were directed to use alternative roads around the site,” Mr Samak said.

“Safety always comes first. It is our top priority in situations like this.”

The underpass re-opened to all traffic at about 5pm, after power was restored and the flood water pumped out of the tunnel.

“We have installed backup generators for the pumps to make sure this does not happen again,” Mr Samak noted.

— Natthaphol Wittayarungrote

Phuket News

Thaiger Talk

Join the conversation and have your say on Thailand news published on The Thaiger.

Thaiger Talk is our new Thaiger Community where you can join the discussion on everything happening in Thailand right now.

Please note that articles are not posted to the forum instantly and can take up to 20 min before being visible. Click for more information and the Thaiger Talk Guidelines.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Legacy Phuket Gazette

Archiving articles from the Phuket Gazette circa 1998 - 2017. View the Phuket Gazette online archive and Digital Gazette PDF Prints.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Check Also
Close