Heavy rains falling since Monday inundated Koh Kong and Pursat provinces, leaving roadways flooded and two bridges in Pursat damaged by the rising water, officials said Thursday.
Two bridges spanning streams on Road 148 in Veal Veng district’s Thma Da commune were damaged Monday when the fast-flowing water slammed against the bridges’ ends where they link to the road, said Karng Peng Hak, director of the provincial department of public works and transportation. He said local residents and officials temporarily fixed the bridges with wooden planks.
“Right now all vehicles can drive across the bridge but not vehicles with a heavy load,” he said, adding that officials from the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation are checking and repairing the two 50-meter-long steel structures.
To the south in Koh Kong province, rains swamped Khemarak Phoumin town and left about 0.3 meters of standing water in two communes. The town’s chief councilor Kok Sam An said the steady showers since Monday have prevented the roads from draining, however floodwaters have not damaged any property, just impeded traffic.
“It rained down for three days without sunlight until today,” he said Thursday. “We can drive across the flooded roads but we drive slowly.”
The flooding in western Cambodia comes on the heels of a downpour Monday that drenched Kampot town and a stretch of National Road 4 in Preah Sihanouk province. On Thursday, Preah Sihanouk Provincial Governor Sbong Sarath said the floodwaters have subsided and the roads are now clear although rain continues to fall.
Government meteorologist Seth Vannareth said Cambodia is still experiencing the effects of a strong southwest, or summer monsoon of June to September, that will particularly lash the coastal provinces. A low-pressure system is compounding the situation by causing high winds, too. She said weather in the region should return to normal on Saturday.
She added that heavy rain is predicted today for the following provinces: Kompong Speu, Kandal, Prey Veng and Phnom Penh.
