Storms that hit Banteay Meanchey province late on Wednesday left five people injured, completely destroyed five houses and damaged some 200 other homes, with Thma Puok district suffering the brunt of the bad weather, provincial governor Kousoum Saroeuth said Thursday.
Mr. Saroeuth said that more than 20 families in the province had been forced to seek temporary shelter—including the five whose homes were flattened —while more than 100 soldiers helped to rebuild their houses.
“When the storm came it just wrecked [some] houses immediately. We were lucky no villagers died,” he said, adding that the injured suffered only minor wounds and were treated at the provincial referral hospital.
Thma Puok district governor Blek Vary said that more than 400 houses were damaged in his district alone, although that number was disputed by the provincial governor.
“The villagers’ houses are easily damaged by storms because they build the roofs with tin and the walls with small pieces of wood,” Mr. Vary said.
