Bangkok Thousands of residents have taken refuge in emergency shelters across Bangkok after severe flooding inundated neighbourhoods and overwhelmed the city’s drainage network. The flooding followed exceptionally heavy rainfall, with as much as 320 millimetres (12.6 inches) recorded over two or three days last week. Large areas of the Thai capital were submerged, disrupting daily life and forcing residents to leave homes affected by rising water. Emergency shelters have been opened to accommodate people displaced by the flooding, while authorities work to manage the consequences of the widespread inundation. The damage from the disaster has been estimated at about $320 million, highlighting the significant economic impact on homes, businesses, infrastructure and local communities. Floodwaters have affected roads and neighbourhoods, creating difficulties for transportation and other essential services. Bangkok’s drainage system, designed to move large volumes of rainwater through the densely populated city, was unable to cope with the extraordinary amount of rainfall. The overwhelmed network contributed to water accumulating rapidly across several areas. The flooding underscores Bangkok’s vulnerability to intense rainfall and urban flooding. The city is highly developed and densely populated, leaving limited space for rainwater to be absorbed naturally. Heavy downpours can therefore place considerable pressure on drainage and flood-control infrastructure. Residents sheltering in evacuation centres face uncertainty over when they will be able to return home. Authorities and emergency workers are continuing relief operations, including providing temporary accommodation and assistance to affected communities. The latest flooding has also renewed attention on the need for effective drainage, flood-management systems and preparations for extreme rainfall in Bangkok. As climate patterns produce increasingly intense weather events in many parts of the world, cities such as Bangkok face growing challenges in protecting residents and limiting economic losses. The disaster has demonstrated the scale of disruption that a few days of exceptional rainfall can cause in Thailand’s capital, with thousands displaced and damages running into hundreds of millions of dollars.