The water level of the Stung Sen River was still high enough to warrant caution as the floods that recently hit many provinces gradually recede and the work to restore damaged agricultural crops begins, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM).
NCDM spokesman Soth Kim Kolmony said floodwaters were gradually receding in the flooded provinces with a few exceptions.
“At Stung Sen, the water level is still at the warning level and some areas are just slowly receding because they are next to the Tonle Sap Lake where the lake water levels remain rather high,” he said.
He added that the number of people affected by flooding this year was about the same as last year overall.
According to an NCDM report, 105 districts and 435 communes in 23 provinces have experienced flooding so far this year, with Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Battambang mostly affected.
More than 190,000ha of rice fields were flooded, over 60,000ha of which were damaged, while 112,760 households totalling 507,400 people have been affected.
A total of 1,426 households in Kampong Thom province have received the government’s non-seasonal short-term rice varieties to restore their crops when the floods recede.
NCDM first vice-president Kun Kim and Ngin Chhay – agriculture director-general at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries – went to meet the flood-affected people in Kampong Thom, where they donated 100,000kg of rice seeds.
