More than 900 houses were damaged, and a 3-million-baht home destroyed, by violent summer thunderstorms that pounded three northeastern provinces late on Tuesday, knocking down large billboards and power poles and causing blackouts.
Worst hit was Kalasin, where more than 800 houses in 12 districts were damaged, according to provincial governor Winai Witthayanukul.
Thunderstorms and strong, gusting winds caused widespread damage throughout the province, with areas near Phuphan mountain range taking the brint of it, he said.
At least 70 houses and a school were unroofed, trees unrooted and power poles toppled in Sahatsakhan district, which was left without electricity for three hours, Weerasak Wichiansaen, chief of provincial disaster prevention and mitigation said on Wednesday after inspecting the damage in the district.
Chartchai Yeesarnpat, director of Thampla Witthayayon School, said the roofs were blown off two buildings and the school was left without power after big trees fell on electricity lines.
Luckily, the storm hit the school during the semester break, otherwise students and teachers would have been in danger, the school’s director said.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, storms beat down on four tambons in Sikhiu on Tuesday evening, damaging 41 houses, three large billboards and eight power poles, Yongyut Pom-iem, chief of Sikhiu district, said. No injuries or deaths were reported.
The damaged homes included a 3-million-baht Thai-style wooden house, which the storm left behind as a pile of debris. It had been completed only four months ago.
House owner Natthapong Kanchanthuek, 22, said on Wednesday that the house was finished in December last year. He left to visit his girlfriend just 30 minutes before the storm knocked it down.
Provincial governor Wichian Chantharanonthai ordered disaster mitigation officials to survey the damage in storm-hit areas and provide assistance to affected residents.
In Nakhon Phanom, a storm hit That Phanom district, damaging more than 30 houses, with 10 of them severely damaged. It was the second time the district had suffered a storm pounding this season.
The provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office on Wednesday reported that a total of 425 houses in 10 districts were affected by thunderstorms during this month.
In That Phanom district alone, more than 200 houses were damaged by storms that hit the district twice this month.
House owner Natthapong Kanchanthuek, 22, looks at the ruins of his 3-million-baht Thai-style wooden house, pictured at the top of the page, after it was flattened by a storm. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
Natthapong Kanchanthuek, the house owner, shows the short, thin metal flange where a support pole was attached to the thin concrete base. The house has 27 support poles and no proper foundation. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
Local residents view the ruins of the 3-million-baht Thai-style wooden house in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sikhiu district. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
A large billboard in Nakhon Ratchasima lies in tatters after a storm passed through the province on Tuesday evening. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)