Southeast Asian Flooding Kills 100

Severe storms and flooding in recent weeks have killed almost 100 people and left 600,000 homeless in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Since July, at least 89 people in Cambodia and eight in Vietnam have been killed by the floods, officials said. A 14-year-old boy drowned Thursday (Sept. 14) in front of the royal palace in Cambodia. This time of year is the traditional rainy season for Southeast Asia, but the floods started earlier than usual this year, in July.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that the Mekong River, which runs through the capital city of Phnom Penh, is higher than it has been in 70 years. "I have participated to stop the killing fields, the genocide of Pol Pot - but it is impossible for me to stop the natural disaster," Hun Sen told the media.

Rescue workers throughout the region are using boats to save villagers, many of whom are stranded in homes built on stilts. The water level at the meeting point of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac Rivers in Cambodia was expected to reach 37 feet by Friday, threatening to overflow into the city of Phom Pehn. Officials said the waters are expected to continue rising, and if they reach 38 feet, the city will flood.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has issued an appeal for $1.13 million in international aid for victims of the flooding in Southeast Asia. About $904,000 of that total is for Cambodia alone.

Seija Tyrninoksa, the Cambodian director of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation, said that 500,000 Cambodian flood victims are in need of clothes, food, blankets and plastic sheets.

The Federation said that flood victims in Vietnam need similar emergency supplies.

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