Thai officials say the death toll from Thailand's most severe flooding in 50 years has climbed to more than 500.

Authorities say the flood waters are threatening Bangkok's largest outdoor shopping zone, the famed Chatuchak market.

The Associated Press reports water has inundated a two-lane road underneath Bangkok's Mo Chit Skytrain station, one of the city's elevated train platforms.

Thailand's prime minister assured the residents of Bangkok Saturday that flooding in the capital's center would be minor and brief.

In her weekly radio address, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said a barrier of huge sandbags had been completed and drainage systems would keep the city's economic and political center mostly dry.

The flood waters have affected more than 3 million households across three quarters of the country's provinces. The estimated financial damage is already in the billions of dollars. The waters have so far inundated almost 10,000 factories, resulting in the loss of 660,000 jobs.

Despite the damage, Thai central bank governor Prasarn Trulratvorakul says economic recovery is possible if the waters recede by early December and domestic spending is revived.