Storm Kills One, Injures Two, Destroys Homes in Svay Rieng

A storm on Saturday night killed one, badly injured two others and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in Svay Rieng province’s Rumduol district, officials said Sunday.

Ros Pharith, provincial administration director, said a rainstorm with strong winds hit the prov­ince about 8:30 p.m.

“The storm started at 8:30 [p.m.] at night and blew down many houses,” he said, adding that the winds had died down by about 9 p.m.

Sar Vanna, Svay Rieng director of the Cambodian Red Cross, said that one woman died and two men were injured during the storm in Pong Toek commune.

“The victim was killed in the storm when she was alone under her house and a strong wind blew the house down on top of her,” he said, adding that Sar Bros, 27, broke his leg in the storm and was taken to a hospital in Vi­etnam, and Tan Teuk, 25, was taken to the district hospital with unknown injuries.

Mr. Vanna said that the storm destroyed 55 houses and damaged 46 others in four communes in Rumduol, and that the Red Cross had cooperated with provincial officials to bring packages of money and rice to victims of the storm Sunday morning.

“When we got information of the disaster we brought the gifts to the victims’ families,” he said.

Mom Ket, provincial Red Cross development officer, said that the villagers were now working to repair their damaged houses.

Stong and Kompong Svay districts in Kompong Thom province were also hit by Saturday’s storm, injuring one person, destroying 16 houses and damaging 32 more, according to Keo Vy, deputy director of information at the National Committee for Disaster Management.

The provinces most affected by storms this year are Banteay Meanchey, Takeo, Kep, Kampot, Kompong Thom and Svay Rieng, Mr. Vy said.

In the first seven months of this year, 28 people have died, 95 have been injured, and nearly 1,600 houses have been de­stroyed and more than 6,100 have been damaged, he added.

“I can conclude that if we compare to the same eight months in 2012, storms have increased two times,” Mr. Vy said.

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