Floods in Cambodia claim 40 lives hinh anh 1Rescuers use boats to ferry stranded villagers to safety (Source: AKP)

Phnom Penh (VNA) –
Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) reported that the ongoing flash floods have so far killed 40 people.

From September 1 to October 24, the flash floods have affected 117 localities in 20 of the 25 provinces and Phnom Penh capital city, the Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP) cited the NCDM.

A total of 136,442 families or 545,768 people have been affected, of them 11,838 families or 47,352 people have been evacuated to the safety grounds.

Besides, 120,418 houses, 925 schools, 305 pagodas, 270,007 ha of rice fields, 88,779 ha of subsidiary crops, and many roads, bridges, canals have been flooded and damaged.

Relevant authorities at all levels have been actively taking necessary measures to timely assist the victims so as to mitigate difficulties and impact on people’s properties and lives.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week visited and distributed relief to some 30,000 flood-affected people in different districts in Banteay Meanchey province.

The current priority of the Cambodian government is to rescue people from the flood-hit areas, he said.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology of Cambodia has announced that tropical storm Molave will soon drop further rain on the country. Nine provinces are forecast to record heavy rain on October 28-29./.
VNA