Ten people, five of them women, were killed and another nine injured in 13 lightning strikes across nine provinces in June, according to figures from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM).

Sixteen head of cattle were also killed, added the NCDM report, which was presented at a meeting chaired by Senior Minister and NCDM first vice-president Kun Kim on July 4 to discuss the June statistics and the direction for this month.

The meeting was participated in by members of General Secretariat at the NCDM offices in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district.

There were 31 cases of strong winds in the capital and across 17 provinces causing much damage, with 148 houses having collapsed or suffered severe damage, 585 having their roofs torn off or sustaining moderate damage, while 12 trees were blown over, the report said.

With heavy rain from the end of May until early June, there was some flooding in lowland and urban areas, with areas of rice fields and other cash crops affected.

The report stated that the capital and provincial NCDM secretariats together with relevant stakeholders cooperated effectively to respond in a timely manner.

Kim instructed officials to continue working together with all stakeholders to provide accurate, fast information on possible disasters with daily follow-ups on severe weather that could cause flooding this rainy season to enable working groups to respond rapidly.