Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

Damage and Losses
Damage
Flood water took over crop
fields, inundated houses,
submerged poultry farms and
livestock barns, washed away
aquaculture ponds, damaged
the farm machinery, silted
irrigation canals, damaged
other irrigation infrastructure,
and caused damage to
machinery in slaughter houses
and fish hatcheries. The
quantity of water was more than
an ordinary farming household
was able to manage. Farmers
and livestock entrepreneurs
visited in Nakhon Sawan and Lop Buri provinces explained how they fought the water for
a few days by putting sand bags and pumping the water continuously with a view to saving
their machinery, equipment, and other assets. However, they just had to give up as their
pumps stopped working and the water level kept on rising.
The major damage caused to the agriculture sector can be summarized as follows:
Crops
Damage to farm machinery such as tractors, plows, threshers, and farm tools was
reported. Many tractors and power tillers were moved to higher ground, but many other
machines that could not be relocated remained under water for long periods and during
the field visits, many machines were seen lying in need of repair. The farmers reported
that actual damage to the machinery could not be calculated as there are no mechanics
available in the villages to assess the costs of repairs. The estimated value of damage
to machinery is THB 5.2 billion, assuming that the cost of repair will increase due to the
urgency of the repairs and the lack of mechanics at village level 20 . For permanent crops,
thousands of rai of fruit trees drowned from being under water for more than a month.
During field visits, the team observed farmers felling and heavily pruning mango trees that
would no longer bear fruit.
Farmers hoped to return to their fields by January 2012, and that the floods will have
deposited fine silt on their farms, which would help produce better yields during the next
harvest. This will not be known, though, until the quality of soil can be assessed after
floods have receded. But this will largely depend on the quality of water that the floods
brought. If the water brings in sediments only, it will help boost the production the following
year, however, if it carries toxic materials from industries it may lead to lower production.
20 See assumptions in Annex 3
THAI FLOOD 2011 RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR RESILIENT RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PLANNING
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