Disasters

A fire that ripped through a market in Battambang province’s Phnom Proek district late on Monday night caused somewhere between $1 million and $2 million in damages, according to local officials. The fire, which reportedly started at about 11:30 p.m. and destroyed 244 stalls, was believed to have ...

Those living along the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers were warned Sunday by the Ministry of Water Resources to exercise caution in the coming days as a tropical depression is expected to lead to flooding. Typhoon Rammasun has killed more than 100 people in ...

More than 100 villagers in Battambang province’s Sangke district whose rice crops are threatened by drought protested twice last week, calling on local authorities to force the Chinese company building an irrigation dam in the area to open the sluice gate to flood the parched ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management said yesterday that the government has made provisions for this year’s rainy season. More than 10,000 tonnes of rice, emergency supplies and rescue vehicles have been prepared ahead of predicted flooding, committee deputy director Nhim Vanda said yesterday at a ...

Looking out from his house, held up by three-meter stilts on a peninsula that juts into Boeng Tompun lake, Chan Sokhom can see the sand inching closer to him every day. Within a few years, the sand will likely reach his doorstep. By then, Mr. Sokhom ...

Lightning struck three men dead as they stood under a tree in Kampong Cham province on Friday evening, police said. Sok Suon, 53, Vy Ponlork, 37, and Yam Khen, 27, died at the scene, said Long Thy, police chief in Srei Santhor district’s Prek Por commune. ...

A Sihanoukville construction project isn’t pulling out all the stops so much as plugging all the drains, leaving neighbouring residents to stew in murky floodwaters, villagers say. Last month, while levelling out the 20-hectare plot, construction workers dumped dirt in front of two large drainage pipes, ...

A construction worker was struck dead and six others were injured on Sunday in Oddar Meanchey’s Anglong Veng district, marking the second death by lightning in the area in the past three months, a commune police chief said. ...

With barely a drop of rain falling on their parched fields, Battambang farmers are pleading with a construction company to stop blockading the local river so their recently planted crops don’t dry out. The Asian Development Bank-funded bridge connecting Battambang and Banteay Meanchey has blocked the ...

A mother and child were killed on Tuesday in what Russey Keo district residents described as a tornado-like storm that stripped off roofs, split trees and swept chairs and baby chicks into the skies. According to villagers, the unprecedented weather started with clouds thickening and turning ...

A Battambang woman and teen were both struck and killed by lightning in two different districts on Monday, police said yesterday. A 28-year-old woman from Rokak Kiri district was taken to the commune hospital after she was killed by a lightning strike, according to Keo Vichet, ...

At least 31 people were killed and 64 injured by storms during the first four months of this year, according to figures from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM). Keo Vy, cabinet director at the NCDM, said strong winds and rains led to three deaths ...

At least six people were killed by lightning this week in storms that destroyed dozens of homes across several provinces, officials said Thursday. Keo Vy, cabinet chief for the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), said that the six deaths had occurred between Monday and Wednesday ...

Despite flood damage causing reduced production levels, cassava farmers in Pailin province are benefiting from an increase in the purchasing price, provincial department of agriculture officials say. “This year’s harvest dropped to 25 tonnes per hectare from 30 tonnes per hectare last season because of the ...

A raging fire in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district destroyed 22 homes early Wednesday morning as local villagers struggled to quell the flames and firefighters scrambled to gain access. At about 1 a.m., an electricity line snapped and sparked the fire, Phnom Penh Fire Department bureau chief ...

A weekend storm battered buildings in Banteay Meanchey province’s Thma Pouk district, leaving hundreds affected by damage to houses and schools across the area. Deab Chhun, Thma Puok district deputy governor, said strong winds and rain swept through Komrou, Thmor Puok and Phoum Thmey communes at ...

Lightning killed two people sheltering from rain on Wednesday in Preah Sihanouk’s Stung Hav district. Ros Ky, the district police chief, said Khem Nget, a 40-year-old motodop from Kampot, and a second victim identified only as Vanny, 50, were taking shelter near Vanny’s home in Tomnup ...

The Asian Development Bank announced Wednesday that it will provide $81.7 million, including a $6.7 million grant from Australia, in additional financing to help Cambodia recover from catastrophic floods in late 2013. The flooding affected 1.7 million people and caused an estimated $356 million in damage. ...

Cambodia’s beleaguered fire department may have a future high-tech solution to its problems after a team of young scientists from Norton University competing in the 4th Malaysian International Robot Competitions (MIRoC) last week placed third in the Fire Fighting Robot category. The annual event, held this ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) released a report yesterday showing that only $356 million was spent on the restoration of infrastructure destroyed by last year’s floods – far below the $500 million in damage estimated beforehand. Nhim Vanda, vice chairman of the NCDM, said ...

The National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said Tuesday that it needs an additional $217 million from donors and NGOs to help recovery efforts from the floods of September and October 2013. A document accompanying the Post-Flood Early Recovery Needs Assessment Report, prepared by the ...

A weekend storm surge that saw torrential downpours hit the capital had far more dire consequences outside of Phnom Penh, where hundreds of families were affected and at least one man was killed. At least 675 homes in eight provinces were damaged in sudden thunderstorms that ...

Officials said two people were killed on Tuesday by separate lightning strikes in Pailin and Kompong Cham provinces as the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a warning about seasonal storms spreading across the country. Searing temperatures and the approach of wet season ignited the ...

In the wake of two deaths from separate lightning strikes this week, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued a notice yesterday warning against potentially devastating storms lasting from today until Sunday. ...