Disasters and emergency response

Cambodia will conduct a “large-scale” emergency evacuation drill with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam “in near future”, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Chum Socheat told The Post on Tuesday. Without specifying the number of soldiers that will be involved in the exercise, Socheat said the drill ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) has warned the public to be cautious when crossing the Stung Samrong Bridge in Preah Sihanouk province’s Kampong Seila district as rising water levels threatened to flood it. ...

Siem Reap and Battambang provincial officials have expressed concerns that another week without rainfall will damage more than 65,000ha of paddy fields. Siem Reap provincial Department of Agriculture director Tea Kimsoth told The Post on Tuesday that 4,800ha of paddy fields in Srei Snam, Kralanh ...

Some 39,966ha of paddy fields across seven provinces have been hit by drought, with the Ministry of Water Resources and authorities using pumps to save crops in areas near sources of water. Officials said the drought in these areas could continue for more than another month. ...

Officials said that the nearly 20,000ha of paddy fields in Battambang’s Sangke district that faced drought have been rescued, with parts of the province receiving some rain recently. Chhim Vichara, the director of the provincial agricultural department, said on Tuesday that although some 18,000ha of ...

A total of 2,302 houses were destroyed on Friday in a storm in Svay Rieng province, with many collapsing or having their roofs torn off, National Committee for Disaster Management spokesman Keo Vy said on Sunday. ...

A Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology spokesman said on Tuesday that there will be up to 26 storms this rainy season, but of those, only five or six will cause the Mekong river to overflow or result in general flooding. ...

The Ministry of Health has instructed people to brace themselves for imminent floods after the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology forecast a full week of medium to heavy rainfall, which it attributed to climate change. ...

WWF-Cambodia is collaborating with the Mondulkiri provincial Department of Environment to install “Source” hydro-panels to collect water from the air for use, the director of the Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary said on Monday. The technological breakthrough from the Arizona-based Zero Mass Water company aims to produce ...

Speaking at a workshop entitled Disability Inclusion into Climate Change in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, Jolly, who is the climate change adaptation consultant at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), requested the government to consider the difficulties facing people with disabilities when drafting government policy ...

With temperatures reaching more than 40 degrees Celsius, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport announced on Thursday that it was amending school study hours to lessen the risk of illness for teachers and students, particularly those at kindergarten. ...

The Mekong River Commission yesterday announced new efforts to address natural disasters in the region, including a decision to upgrade and rename the Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Centre to the Regional Flood and Drought Management Centre. The announcement followed a two-day bi-annual meeting, which ...

Drought in many parts of Southeast Asia may become even more frequent and intense if action is not taken now to build resilience, according to the latest joint study by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) and the Association ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology called on Wednesday for increased vigilance as Cambodia continues to be in a trough of low atmospheric pressure while facing high pressure from Thailand, leading to dry season rains, sudden strong winds and lightning strikes. The ministry’s notice ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on people to be careful in thunderstorms, which have so far this year killed at least three people and destroyed scores of homes, with more predicted in April and May. The prime minister also ordered the Cambodian Red Cross ...

A historian has raised fears that the drought currently gripping Cambodia could affect the foundations of the Kingdom’s globally renowned Angkor Wat, while the temple complex’s Apsara Authority management has said that, while it was prepared, it was not expecting such a problem. ...

A National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) report, seen by The Post on Monday, shows that as of Monday, storms and lightning have killed three people and injured 10 others so far this year. NCDM spokesman Keo Vy said 39 storms have occurred in 17 ...

The Ministry of Health has issued advice on avoiding health problems as temperatures continue to rise this hot season, warning some conditions brought risks to life. The announcement comes as the weather heated up across Cambodia, with the dry season predicted to prolong into the ...

The Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) said on Tuesday that 48 families have been made homeless after a fire swept through their homes in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon. No one was injured in the blaze, which happened in the Sambok Chab area of Meanchey district’s ...

Electricité du Cambodge yesterday issued a statement saying that due to power shortages, it has reduced the supply of electricity in the Kingdom during the day in order to ensure supply at night. In the statement, EDC said it had contacted neighbouring countries in order ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday said the country is now facing an electricity shortage of about 400 megawatts, leading to power outages, and appealed to people, especially those in the business sector, to understand that this is because of an ongoing dry spell. Speaking ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has warned there will be greater instances of thunderstorms this year than previously and appealed for people to be vigilant during the early hot season rains. The ministry announcement, issued on Saturday and obtained by The Post on Sunday, ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered provincial authorities to dig wells for people who are facing shortages of water during the dry season. “Ministry and provincial officials must pay attention to our people,” Mr Hun Sen said during a speech in front of university graduates ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has called on the National Assembly to provide more research funds in order to address increasing temperatures in the Kingdom. According to the National Assembly website, the call was made during a meeting with the parliamentary body yesterday ...