Floods have killed three people and inundated over 10,000 hectares of farmland and 4,000 homes so far this year, leading to the evacuation of 150 families and 4,000 head of cattle, the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) has reported.

NCDM spokesman Keo Vy said that recent heavy rains in Preah Vihear town caused the evacuation of at least 60 families to elevated areas, while flooding on Saturday in Preah Vihear’s Choam Ksan district forced 49 families to move to higher ground. “Two died in floods in Choam Ksan and another person died because of flooding from the Mekong River in Prek Prasap district, Kratie province,” said Vy.

Heavy rains that began last Monday led to flooding in six provinces – Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Kampot, Ratanakkiri, Kratie and Stung Treng – said Vy, and flooded nearly 2,000 homes, completely destroying three. Meanwhile, flash floods from the Mekong in Kratie’s Prek Prasap district and Tbong Khmum province flooded 3,300 houses, 40 schools and 2,700 hectares of agricultural land, while displacing 50 families and 2,000 head of cattle.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology announced that it predicted a dry spell lasting from the end of July to the second week of August, due to after-effects from Tropical Storm Nesat, which yesterday was heading for mainland China after battering Taiwan.