ReliefWeb

Water is still dripping from Heng Chey’s* clothes as he sits shaking by Tonle Sap Lake in north-west Cambodia. He was crossing a bridge when it was swept away by a rush of floodwater.

“I saw that the bridge was already flooded, but I thought I could still make it,” he said. “If the people around me did not help to pull me out, the force of the water would have swept me away.”

Since September, heavy rainfall has triggered severe flooding in north-west and south-east Cambodia, causing extensive damage across 20 of the country’s 24 provinces. In some provinces, areas that are normally considered safe were inundated. According to the Government, 168 people have been killed and almost 145,000 have been evacuated. Hundreds of families are still waiting for assistance, as many areas remain waterlogged.

“Information from initial assessments that we undertook with national authorities indicate that in some provinces, the floods are more extensive than in 2011,” said Clare Van der Vaeren, the UN Resident Coordinator for Cambodia.

“I am particularly concerned about the situation in Battambang and Banteay Meancheay provinces (in western Cambodia), where in some cases water levels have reached the roofs of houses.”

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