SIX provinces in Cambodia were badly hit by floods affecting more than 5,000 families, 3,000 ha of paddy fields, property, roads and schools.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, the National Committee for Disaster Management said the worst-hit areas were the eastern provinces of Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri and the coastal provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, Kep and Kampot.
Its spokesman, Keo Vy said a total 5,869 families were affected in Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Ratanakkiri provinces.
"From the total, 1,342 families were evacuated, while the police, Military Police and army helped those in need," he said.
Some victims in Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri provinces were temporarily evacuated and were even able to take their pets and other important possessions with them.
Others have stayed at home because the flooding has only reached the ground floor, he said.
Vy said most homes in Sihanoukville had been flooded and the authorities had evacuated 295 families from Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district.
"Fortunately, only a small number of people had been badly affected by flooding in Koh Kong and Kep provinces because the water had been released into canals and the sea.
"However, 3,012 families, 286ha of paddy fields and more than 2ha of durian trees in four Kampot districts had been flooded, with 60 families evacuated," he added.
The Konsat dam in Konsat commune in Kampot province’s Teuk Chhou district was breached on Monday but did not cause serious problems.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said that more than 100 workers, using some 20 items of heavy machinery, took 20 hours to repair the dam, which has a storage capacity of up to 10 million cubic metres of water.
Yun Phally, the Kampot provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said heavy rain since the beginning of the month, along with the opening of the Kamchay hydropower dam, had caused flooding in four communes in Teuk Chhou district.
At least four people died last week as a result of flooding in Sihanoukville and Ratanakkiri province.