Thailand's flood death toll rises to 564

A total of 564 people were confirmed dead and two missing during the more than three-month flooding, which is the worst in over 50 years, Thai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported Wednesday. Flooding situation still prevails in 20 provinces, including capital Bangkok and the central and northeastern region, while 44 other provinces are on the way of restoring, said the report. Some 5.3 million residents or nearly 2 million households are still suffering, according to the report. In Bangkok, 27 communities in 13 districts have been affected by floods. The inundation caused by heavy monsoon rains and back-to-back tropical storms has lashed 64 out of 77 provinces across the country since late July, affecting more than 13 million, or one in every five Thais. Tens of thousands of manufactures were swamped, putting over a million of employees at the risk of losing their jobs and causing about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of loss, let alone the economic damage which was expected to be between 23 billion to 28 billion U.S. dollars.