Damages from five days of flooding in Kampot province will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, officials said Sunday.
Flood victims evacuated from their villages Thursday have returned home, Dr Uy Sam Ath of the Cambodian Red Cross said Sunday. Route 3, which links the provincial capital to Phnom Penh, reopened Friday and business in town has returned to normal, Kampot officials confirmed.
But floodwaters—which officials claim are responsible for at least five deaths—collapsed 16 homes and destroyed approximately 9,200 hectares of rice fields. Torrential rains washed out at least 1,746 meters of rural roads, 465 meters of railroad tracks, four railroad drainages, 180 meters of Route 3 and 9,000 meters of paved road in Kampot town, Kampot Third Deputy Governor Chhit Sokhon said.
“The railroad tracks need at least $147,150 worth of repair, and we will need about $146,000 to fix the urban and rural roads damaged by the flood,” Chhit Sokhon said.
He said hardest hit were the districts of Kampot, Kompong Bay and Dang Tong.
At Friday’s Council of Ministers meeting, Prime Minister Hun Sen said the Ministry of Finance agreed to disburse $290,000 to provide food, medicine and other aid to those who lost homes and rice paddies in the flooding.
Thirty tons of rice donated to the flood victims arrived Sunday in Kampot province, Chhit Sokhon said.
Flooding in Kampot town began late Tuesday and forced an estimated 700 to 1,000 families to be evacuated to higher ground, Uy Sam Ath said.
Five children, all under 13 years old, were reported drowned. Three boys and a girl drowned in Kampot district and another was reported drowned on Koh Slar in Chhuk district, Chhit Sokhon reported.
