High tide puts flood defences to the test, reax

(30 Oct 2011) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of river and breached dyke wall 2. Close up of water pouring through breach 3. Wide of dyke wall 4. Various of troops and workers taking a break 5. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Korranit Ngamsukonratana, Member of Bangkok Metropolitan Council: "We should be able to cope with the situation. We are trying to fix affected areas urgently, so we can ensure as few people as possible in Bangkok are affected." 6. Various of flooded streets 7. Wide of moon 8. Wide of flooded street at night STORYLINE Bangkok appears to have weathered the highest tides of the month without serious flooding, for the moment at least. There had been fears the weekend would see the Chao Phraya river burst its banks amid a combination of high tides and massive amounts of run-off water from the inundated central plains to the north. But its complex system of canals and storm walls, plus the patchwork of sandbag dykes, appear to have held. Some parts of the city did not escape so lightly. Close to Sukhumvit Road - one of Bangkok's main thoroughfares - the river broke through a barrier, spilling water deep into the road and surrounding communities. The flood scene is just a few kilometres (miles) from the city centre. Soldiers had battled all day to keep the flood at bay. By evening many were exhausted and barely noticed the water pouring past them as they took a break for food. Although catastrophic flooding has devastated a third of this Southeast Asian nation and submerged some of the capital's northernmost districts, the reality for the majority of this sprawling metropolis of 9 (m) million people is that life goes on. Earlier the Prime Minister had expressed cautious optimism that the inner city - the commercial heartbeat of the country - might escape the nation's worst flooding disaster in decades and a municipal council member echoed that hope. "We should be able to cope with the situation", said Korranit Ngamsukonratana. Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts have so far suffered heavy flooding with another 8 partially affected. But with a huge volume of water still pressing down from the north the battle is not over. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...