Deadly Tropical Storm Pabuk strikes famous Thai beaches, forces evacuations

Trees and utility poles were leveled and city streets and country roads flooded on Friday as rain, winds and surging seawater from Tropical Storm Pabuk hit coastal villages and world-famous tourist resorts on southern Thailand’s east coast. Dozens of houses on the coast in Hua Sai district, Nakhon Si Thammarat, were damaged by the storm, but there were no immediate reports of severe damage by nightfall. It appeared that the storm’s effects would not be as bad as expected. More than 6,100 people in four p