Thai city evacuate as flood waters inundate houses

Flood waters continued to inundate towns in Thailands Ayutthaya province on Sunday, forcing thousands to evacuate.Local TV showed footage of residents packing their belongings and waiting for transport to take them to an evacuation center in an area of the province which has not been affected by the floods.Ayutthaya province, which is known as an ancient temple town, is 105 km (65 miles) north of Bangkok. Some local residents said that they had become stranded in their homes due to the unexpected, large-scale flooding.There are large numbers of flooded houses in the small lane in the back street. My house is at the end of it. The rescue boat just passed the main road. They dont know that there are people stranded in houses on the back street, said an unidentified Ayutthaya resident.Thailands Department of Prevention and Mitigation said on Sunday at least 261 people have been killed and four are still missing due to the flooding which started in mid July. It said more than two million people have been affected by floods.In Nonthaburi, a province to the north of Bangkok, people prepared sandbags to protect their homes after media reported there was a shortage of sand.Around 30 provinces in Thailand have faced large-scale flooding this year. The countrys Meteorological Department says it expects more rain in the next 3-4 days. This rain was expected to make water levels of the Chao Praya river rise, threatening the capital and areas around the river with floods.Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced late Friday that Thailand is facing the threat of a natural disaster.