Flooding still plagues Bangkok

More than 381 people are dead and about 10,800 have been evacuated as flood waters still inundate Thailand's capital, officials said. Unusually heavy rains began in July and flooding covered northern regions. The water has been flowing southward through 27 of the country's 77 provinces to the capital region, China's Xinhua news agency reported. Flooding is expected to persist for about four more weeks, the Bangkok Post reported Sunday. Floodwaters flowing into Bangkok are not as bad as expected, though the overall water mass is still substantial, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Sunday. The flooding situation in Bangkok should improve soon as relief efforts to drain the excess water is under way, the Post said. Officials are keeping an eye on the tides as drainage of the water to the sea would speed up the process. Anond Snidvongs, director of the Geoinformatics and Space Technology Development Agency, said about 70 percent of the northern runoff reaching the capital could be drained, meaning waters would rise an average of 2 inches per day, the Post reported. Pheu Thai Member of Parliament Uthen Chartpinyo suggested opening west-facing sluice gates in the city to allow runoff into an underground drainage tunnel.