At least eight people have died and about 350,000 people have evacuated to higher ground as a result of flooding in provinces along the Mekong River, disaster officials said Wednesday.
Five girls and a boy in Kompong Cham died Wednesday when their boats capsized, said Nhim Vanda, first deputy director of the National Committee on Disaster Management. A woman slipped and fell to her death in Prek Prasap district in Kratie province Monday.
A 15-year-old boy drowned in Stung Treng province earlier this week, said Ourn Bora, chief of cabinet in Stung Treng province. The province has not had electricity for the past few days, he said.
Kratie town remained 90 percent flooded and electricity has been lost, Nhim Vanda said. Half of Kompong Cham town is flooded. The six provinces around the Mekong River are the most heavily affected by flood, while six provinces in the west are still facing drought, Nhim Vanda said.
Low rainfall in flooded areas may cause water levels, which peaked in Kratie and Stung Treng Wednesday, to fall slightly in the next few days, the Mekong River Commission forecasted. Water levels in Kompong Cham were expected to rise to flood levels today and Friday and begin to level off, the forecasts said.
Nhim Vanda estimated that at least 2,000 tons of rice were needed for evacuated villagers. The government’s stock of about 200 tons of rice has nearly run out, he said. “The most important things we need are rice, shelters and medicines,” he said.
The government will make formal requests to aid agencies in the next few days, he said.
Aid agencies said they were already trying to assess villagers’ needs. “How are [villagers] affected? Is the water six [centimeters] deep, or six meters? Then we can determine as best we can how to help the most vulnerable,” said Richard Neville, disaster preparedness coordinator with the International Red Cross.
