Bangkok: Floods overwhelm the city (PHOTOS) (VIDEO)
Global Weather – Asia hit by repeat storms: Heavy rain falls over the city of Bangkok at sunset during the monsoon season. Sept. 18, 2011.
Flood waters continue to threaten Bangkok, as thousands of volunteers and soldiers worked furiously Wednesday to strengthen the city's defenses, reports the New York Times.
Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pleaded for assistance and unity, acknowledging that her two-month-old administration was overwhelmed by the crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal:
We've been doing everything we can, but this is a big national crisis. On our own, we can't get it done. We need unity from every side and we must set politics aside.
Residents of seven districts in Bangkok have been told to evacuate and move their belongings to higher ground, reports BBC News. More than 300 people have been killed in the floods that have surged throughout Northern Thailand from months of heavy monsoon rains. More than one-third of the kingdom's provinces have been affected by the flooding.
Volunteers and soldiers worked side by side to fortify the city's floodwall with more than a million sandbags, but many fear that it won't be enough, reports the Bangkok Post. Even a Buddhist monk worked to protect the city, posts MSNBC.
More from GlobalPost: Global Weather: Asia pummeled by repeat storms
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