Bangkok’s city government declared all 50 districts of the Thai capital disaster zones on Saturday as torrential rains submerged eastern neighborhoods and paralyzed traffic across the metropolis, according to the Bangkok Post. City officials said the designation allows the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and state agencies to mobilize resources more rapidly and coordinate emergency responses in inundated areas.

Eastern districts bore the brunt of the deluge, with waterlogging disrupting daily life and commerce across the sprawling city.

Weather warnings issued as monsoon intensifies

The Meteorological Department said the severe conditions stem from a strong low-pressure system hovering over the lower Central Plains and an intensifying southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand. Authorities dispatched cell broadcast alerts warning that canal levels had already reached critical thresholds and would climb higher, while the department forecast continued downpours nationwide through Sunday.

City deploys pumps as residents stock up

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration stated that floodwaters could recede within six hours if rainfall ceases, noting that municipal pumping stations were operating at full capacity to drain inundated streets. In some neighborhoods, residents engaged in panic buying to secure essentials as concerns mounted that the flooding could deepen, the Bangkok Post reported.