Five major storms down, maybe 22 more to go.
That’s the prediction from Water Resource Minister Lim Kean Hour, who said probability data on Pacific Ocean storm conditions indicate there will be 27 major storms this rainy season whose effects will be felt in Cambodia.
The five storms so far have produced the highest July river levels in several decades, Lim Kean Hour said Tuesday.
TVK reported that as a safety measure, about 100 meters of a raised road built with an ADB loan in Sithor Kandal district, Prey Veng province, was cut open to relieve flooding that had already put 8,000 hectares of rice paddies and five bridges under water in seven nearby districts.
Downstream, Phnom Penh still appears to be safe from major flooding. Kim Lean Hour said flood waters in the Mekong are slightly receding.
He said the latest weather predictions indicate a dry season of about 15 to 20 days in August, and then the resumption of rainy weather until mid-October.
Deputy Chief of the Agricultural Council Tao Seng Hour said the government has already prepared food, sacks, tents and 2,000 tons of rice seed to help victims of the flood, which officials say has displaced thousands who lived near the river systems. At least four people have reportedly drowned in the high waters.
National Assembly chairman Prince Norodom Ranariddh appealed to assembly members Tuesday night to provide money to help flood victims. According to TVK, a special emergency budget set aside for such situations will be used. The Prince also appealed to NGOs and the international community for flood relief aid.
