All but four of the country’s 24 provinces inundated, with affected communities up against destroyed crops, exposure to unexploded ordnance and worsening debt
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Heavy rains over the past month have caused severe flooding in 20 of Cambodia’s 24 provinces, killing 168 people and affecting more than 10 percent of the country’s population, according to the latest report from humanitarian agencies.
Seasonal monsoon downpours since the third week of September have displaced close to 150,000 people and affected 1.7 million overall, said the report by the Humanitarian Response Forum, a network of humanitarian agencies including the U.N.
The floodwaters have also washed landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from contaminated to cleared areas, increasing risks to the affected population. To date, three anti-personnel mines, one UXO and two anti-tank mines have been reported in two different provinces, according to the report.
Waters are receding across the country but more slowly than expected in the worst affected provinces of Battambang and Banteay Meanchey in northwest Cambodia, it said.
These two provinces suffered from a combination of flash floods as well as overflow from rivers and two dams in Cambodia, as well as from Thailand, it added.
The most pressing needs are water and sanitation hygiene, shelter and food, it said, adding that initial assessments indicate extensive damage. In northern Ratanakiri province, more than a fifth of rice crops were destroyed.
Cambodia’s last major floods two years ago – which inundated 18 provinces and affected 1.6 million people – left many poor households in debt, and there are concerns that the current crisis will worsen the situation.
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