Disasters and emergency response

One teenager drowned and at least 30 families were evacuated as the Stung Sen river swelled over one meter higher than emergency levels in Preah Vihear province, authorities said on Wednesday, as at least five other provinces recorded flooding from Tropical Storm Sonca. ...

The temporary detention and questioning of 24 people travelling to the reservoir area of the Lower Sesan II dam prompted a three-hour confrontation between Military Police and provincial police officials and more than 100 villagers in Stung Treng’s Kbal Romea village yesterday. ...

Rescuers armed with speed boats and emergency supplies have been deployed to two Stung Treng province villages where residents remain despite expected flooding as the country’s largest hydropower dam undergoes testing. ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology yesterday issued a warning that an impending tropical storm may inundate the Tonle Sap and Mekong river, causing floods to neighbouring communities. ...

The doors of the Lower Sesan II dam were closed on Saturday for a monthlong test run, forcing more than 100 families holding out in Stung Treng’s Srekor and Kbal Romea communes to prepare for floods. Since the doors’ closure on Saturday morning, water levels ...

An official in Stung Treng province said there was no way to grant a last-minute reprieve requested on Thursday by villagers whose homes could be flooded within days once testing of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam begins on Saturday. ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities have vowed to demolish the Sre Pok Bridge ahead of the testing of the Lower Sesan II dam – which will submerge a number of villages – and warned that police will be deployed should villagers protest. ...

Over a hundred families in Stung Treng province’s Srekor and Kbal Romea communes said yesterday that they have located around 2,000 hectares to relocate to when a scheduled test run for the Lower Sesan II dam this week leaves their villages flooded. ...

A fisherman and his brother were struck by lightning on Sunday – one of them fatally – while six others were injured in storms, local police said yesterday. ...

Farmer in Prey Veng’s Svay Antor and Pea Reang and Kanh Chriech districts began digging canals this week to save their rice fields from heavy rains. ...

Forty-seven people were killed by lightning in the first six months of the year, down from 60 in the same period last year, according to a report from the National Committee for Disaster Management. ...

Villagers living near the Lower Sesan ll Hydropower Dam in Stung Treng province have been warned to expect flooding in their villages soon as the operators of the dam close its doors for technical tests. ...

Floods and a plague of crickets have left about 100 hectares of rice crops destroyed in Tbong Khmum province after a week of heavy rains, local farmers and officials said yesterday. ...

Massive deforestation is playing a crucial role in the droughts that have devastated Cambodia. But despite an official ban on timber exports, forests continue to be cut down at a record rate.The Cambodian government awarded between 30 and 40 logging concessions to private companies during ...

Rainstorms and lightning strikes killed a combined 43 people and injured 79, while damaging 2,735 homes in the first five months of the year, according to a report by the National Committee for Disaster Management. ...

Five days of rain wreaked havoc in Cambodia’s northwest, with hundreds of hectares of crops affected in Pailin province and heavy flooding in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town. ...

Turning away from the traditional tools of providing information about weather forecasts, people now can access real-time weather alerts on their smartphones and mobile phones via SMS and voice messages to better help them prepare to avert disasters caused by severe climatic events. ...

Fishermen and passengers travelling by sea have been warned to take care as rainstorms lash coastal areas from tomorrow until Saturday. The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said big waves were expected off  Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong provinces.   ...

A farmer died after being struck by lightning on Sunday evening while herding his cattle home in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district.​ According to a report by the National Committee for Disaster Management, the number of deaths caused by lightning this year has risen to ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities say they have warned villagers living upstream of the Lower Sesan II dam to expect floods in September as one of the dam’s 50-megawatt turbines goes into operation. ...

Lighting deaths nearly tripled in Cambodia during the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, an official at the National Committee for Disaster Management said yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has issued another bad weather advisory, warning storms will continue until the start of next month. ...

Four were killed by lightning strikes and three were seriously injured when the roof of their house collapsed as storms battered five provinces – Svay Rieng, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Battambang and Oddar Meanchey – on Tuesday. ...

More than 100 homes have been destroyed, another person killed and several people injured as storms continue to cut a swathe through Cambodia. ...