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Seven people have drowned, one is still missing and more than 260,000 people are affected in the worst flooding in the southernmost province of Narathiwat in five decades, according to the Provincial Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office.Update December 30
All 13 districts of the province have been hit by floods, although the water is receding as runoffs flow downstream towards neighbouring Yala and Pattani provinces, before reaching the sea.
In areas where flooding has receded, many people can be seen cleaning their houses of mud, which came with floodwaters. Others were seen examining damage caused to their property. Flooding is also easing in Yala province.
In neighbouring Pattani province, which is located downstream, the economic zone in the Mueang district was flooded yesterday, although the water is not yet very deep, ranging from 30cm to slightly over 50cm. Some roads have become impassable to small cars, as police put up signs to warn motorists. Draining water into the Pattani River is not possible because the river itself is swollen and has overflowed its banks.
In Pakaharang community, which is located by the Pattani River, more than 300 houses are inundated.
One climate expert pointed out that flood early warning systems are not efficient enough, as many people were had no advance notice of the flooding, leaving them unprepared and unable to move their valuables to higher ground in time.
Flooding in Pattani still remains serious, but the situation is expected to improve in the next few days, if there is no more heavy rain.
The devastating floods in southern Thailand have claimed at least 12 lives, with over 18,000 households in the Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala provinces still grappling with flooding.
The Public Health Ministry reported that eight people died in Narathiwat, three in Yala, and one in Pattani.
Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DDPM) director-general Chaiwat Junthirapong said 109,282 households in five provinces — Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, and Satun — have been affected by the floods since December 22.
At least 40 more people have died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said, after heavy downpours overnight Tuesday unleashed floods and landslides that left residents digging through the mud to find bodies.
In the city of Bukavu, onlookers gathered to watch on Wednesday as a group of men hauled a car out of the mud to recover a woman's body from underneath, a Reuters witness said.
At least 20 people died in Bukavu and at least 20 more were killed in the village of Burinyi, 50 kilometers from Bukavu, according to officials in the two places.
Bukavu resident Yvonne Mukupi, who was able to stay clear of the deluge, said her neighbor was swept away by the flood waters.
"We have managed to recover three bodies under the trees, but others have not been found yet," she said.
Poor urban planning and weak infrastructure make communities like Mukupi's more vulnerable to extreme rainfall, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Africa because of warming temperatures, according to United Nations climate experts.
"When rain falls, the main waterway gets clogged sometimes because of the waste, so it gets flooded and it affects the houses," Bukavu official Emmanuel Majivuno Kalimba told Reuters at the scene, as residents worked to salvage belongings from their damaged homes.
The overnight devastation follows the deaths of at least 22 people in Kasai-Central province on Tuesday when a landslide swallowed houses, churches and roads, killing entire families and leaving people homeless.
Comment: Update December 30
The Associated Press reports: