Cambodia: Floods - Sep 1996

In the last ten days of September, heavy rainfall produced by two storms in China, Laos, and the north-east of Cambodia caused a rapid and extraordinary rise in the level of the Mekong River. The result was widespread flooding across six provinces in Cambodia (Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, Kampong Cham, Kandal and Prey Veng) with the most serious flooding occurring in Kampong Cham and Prey Veng. Some districts of Phnom Penh have also been affected as the Mekong nears the critical level of 11.20 metres in the capital. (IFRC, 1 Oct 1996)

As the flooding recedes in the six provinces and districts of Phnom Penh along the Mekong river, four other Cambodian provinces have become inundated. In Svay Rieng 10,453 people were affected by floods caused by a freak combination of receding flood waters from upstream provinces and high tides in Vietnam that forced water back into Cambodia. In Takeo, a heavy thunderstorm caused flooding affecting 60,506 people. In Banteay Meanchey in the NW, heavy rains and water run off from Thailand have affected 5,555 people, while in Pursat water run-off from the swollen Tonle Sap has affected 1,465 people. The floods have reportedly claimed 59 lives, damaged 130,577 hectares of rice fields, and left an estimated 584,700 people in need of assistance. (IFRC, 31 Oct 1996)