Cambodia: Flood: 2000/08

Period	2000/08
Country or District	Cambodia
Event Type	Flood
Outline	The second floods has caused serious damages on provinces in the North, the East and the South, especially in Takeo Province. Three provinces along Mekong River (Stung Treng, Kratie and Kompong Cham) and Municipality of Phnom Penh have declared the state of emergency. 121,000 families have been affected, more than 170 people were killed, and some $10 million in rice crops has been destroyed. Immediate needs include food, shelter, and the repair or replacement of homes, household items, and sanitation facilities as water levels in the Delta continue to fall.

Related Links

Report/Articles

UNICEF 2000/10/30

IFRC 2000/10/27

AFP 2000/10/20
Nearly 2,000 victims of Cambodia's devastating floods marched on offices of the United Nations and Red Cross Friday demanding food and accusing the government of siphoning off flood relief.

IFRC 2000/10/12

AFP 2000/10/10
The death toll in Cambodia's worst floods on record rose Tuesday to 252 people, with damage to crops and property estimated at 79 million dollars, officials said.

DPA 2000/10/06
The president of the Asian Development Bank will announce an emergency flood aid programme.

OCHA 2000/10/02
The floods have claimed 180 human lives and have affected over 2.2 million people, or 20% of the country's population. Close to 200,000 people have been displaced.

OCHA Situation Report No. 6 2000/10/02
The UN Appeal seeks contributions worth USD 10,712,754 to assist 850,000 beneficiaries for 6 months.

Reuters 2000/09/29
Cambodia on Friday appealed for more assistance in providing emergency relief to the two million people affected by the country's worst floods in decades. "Foreign and domestic relief is not enough for those in need. We need more help for those facing flooding, even though the water levels have started to recede,'' said Taing Nath, an official with the National Committee on Disaster Management. Several million dollars of local and international assistance have been pledged since early July when the flooding began.

AFP 2000/09/28
The worst is not yet over for the victims of devastating floods which have inundated countries along the Mekong valley, aid workers warned Thursday. The unseasonally early floods which have hit Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand will continue to wreak havoc until November, Peter Walker, head of the regional delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said here.

Reuters 2000/09/26
Water levels in the worst floods to hit Vietnam's Mekong Delta for decades appear to have stabilized, and are receding in parts of Cambodia and Thailand, but the death toll has risen to 339 in those countries. The death toll had risen to 173 in Cambodia.

IFRC 2000/09/26
Cambodia's National Route Six has emerged as a lifesaver from the floods that have wrought havoc in many provinces. Several families and their cattle have found the elevated road - which runs from Phnom Penh to the country's largest province Kompong Cham - a safe haven from the rising waters that have flooded their nearby homes and land.

DPA 2000/09/26
Serious drought is threatening many of Cambodia's rural villages, some of them located within only 20 or 30 kilometres of areas devastated by recent floods. While some areas of the country's provinces have been struck in recent months by what may be the worst flooding in 70 years, a severe lack of rain in other areas has ruined or stunted rice crops and increased the threat of disease.

Church World Service 2000/09/25
July's rainfall across the Mekong Delta was twice the average, which meant seasonal flooding occurred more than 45 days early and most of the crops were not yet harvested. A second wave of storms in late August caused more flooding.

AFP 2000/09/22
The World Food Programme (WFP) will send immediate food aid to 40,000 people affected by massive floods from the Mekong River in southeast Asia.

AFP 2000/09/21
The Red Cross in Cambodia said there was growing concern that the prolonged flooding would spark epidemics of malaria, dengue fever and diarrhoea. "We are worried about disease, health and water sanitation. Luckily we haven't had any major outbreaks yet, but emergeny responses are being prepared," said Seija Tyrninoksa, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent office.

DPA 2000/09/21
The Red Cross increased its appeal for aid Thursday to 2.5 million dollars from 1 million dollars to cover long-term health costs as well as food supplies and household kits for affected families.

AFP 2000/09/21
More than two million people across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand are now homeless as a result of the floods sweeping down the Mekong River.More than 200,000 people have abandoned their homes for higher ground in Cambodia.According to Cambodia's national disaster relief committee, flood waters in southern Cambodia are continuing to rise, despite levels dropping in the north of the country.

Reuters 2000/09/20
In Cambodia, where floods have claimed nearly 120 lives and caused more than $50 million in damage to property alone, officials said the worst was over and waters were receding.

OCHA Situation Report No. 5 2000/09/20
Water levels in Cambodia continue to flow above warning level. The water levels in the capital Phnom Penh reached 11.17 m on 19 September, the highest level ever recorded (the maximum so far was 10.93 m in 1996). Various areas of the capital are reported to be vulnerable to the rising waters, as well as Roads 1, 5, 6A and 11 (from Prey Veng to Neak Loeung). The continued increase of water levels will prolong the flooding and slow the drainage process.

OCHA Situation Report No. 4 2000/09/14
According to IFRC, the most immediate needs are food and shelter necessitating replacement or repair of destroyed and damaged homes, household items, sanitation facilities and prevention of the spread of waterborne diseases.

AFP 2000/09/19
Four million people are now affected by the worst floods in a generation sweeping down the Mekong River basin, the heart of mainland southeast Asia's rice bowl. Many flooded areas in southern Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam could not be reached to deliver emergency relief, according to the International Red Cross.

OCHA 2000/09/18
UNDAC mission mobilized for Cambodia

AFP 2000/09/18
The death toll from Cambodia's worst flooding in decades rose to 116 people Monday as Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the disaster threatened to heighten dependence on foreign aid and slow much-needed reforms following the end of the civil war.

DPA 2000/09/18
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam - their lives devastated by the region's worst flooding in decades - abandoned their homes on Monday as their governments expressed fears of looming epidemics and food shortages.

Action by Churches Together (ACT) 2000/09/15
At least 82 persons have lost their lives in the worst flooding Cambodia has seen in decades with 13 of its 23 provinces being severely affected. All monitoring stations along the Mekong River in Cambodia are reporting levels rising above the danger mark. Flooding in provinces along the Mekong River has left more than 42,000 families homeless and destroyed more than US$ 9-million in crops.

CARE 2000/09/15
Emergency teams from CARE, the international relief and development organization, are distributing over 100 tons of food and more than 9,000 sandbags to support local relief efforts in Cambodia, as rising waters in the Mekong River Delta cause record flooding.

ABC 2000/09/14
82 people have now lost their lives in the worst flooding Cambodia has seen in decades. A state of emergency has been declared in Phnom Penh and three other provinces. Thousands of soldiers and police have been utilised to help fortify the Mekong's banks with sandbags. On Saturday, the water level in the Mekong is expected to reach 11-point-two metres, enough to see the river burst its banks. But worse is expected to come next week. Cambodia's national committee for disaster management claims that the river could peak at 11.44 metres next week. Boats and helicopters are being prepared to begin evacuations.

AFP 2000/09/13
Cambodian disaster management officials said Wednesday the Mekong River could overflow its banks at the weekend and flood Phnom Penh -- home to more than one million people -- for the first time since records began.

DPA 2000/09/11
Cambodia's worst floods in at least 20 years have claimed 74 lives and caused 9 million dollars in damage to crops and roads, officials said on Monday. There are fears the death toll could climb even higher with the Mekong River still rising from a tropical storm in Vietnam.Cambodia declared an emergency in the flooding last week, and has appealed for foreign aid to help families left homeless.

AFP 2000/09/05
10 out of Cambodia's 23 provinces were experiencing severe flooding. In three provinces -- Compong Cham, Kratie and Prey Veng -- as well as in Phnom Penh the water is above emergency levels and damage is estimated to have run into millions of dollars.

AFP 2000/09/04
The rising Mekong River is threatening to engulf the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, according to officials Monday who said the death toll in the worst flooding in decades had risen to 23 people.

OCHA Situation Report No. 2 2000/08/25
Earlier than normal, the southwest monsoon rains have swept through Cambodia and into the Mekong river watershed area of south China, Laos, northern Thailand and northern Viet Nam, causing extensive flooding.

OCHA Situation Report No. 1 2000/08/11
So far, 11 provinces out of 19 provinces (Stung Treng, Kratie, Kompong Cham, Koh Kong, Kompong Thom, Siem Reap, Oudor Meanchey, Prey Veng, Takeo, Svay Rieng and Kandal) and the Municipality of Phnom Penh have been affected by the floods.

AFP 2000/07/26
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen put his cabinet on high alert Wednesday as the death toll from the country's worst floods in decades rose to 10 people. He ordered ministers to prepare to help thousands of families who have lost their homes and crops.

OCHA Situation Report No.3 2000/09/06
In the Municipality of Phnom Penh the water level rose to 10.62 m, 12 cm above warning level. It is feared that if the water level reaches 11.2 m, some areas of Phnom Penh will be put under water.

Urgent Report from Supporting Members of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center

Government of Cambodia 2000/09/07
Planning for Assistance to Target Provinces/Municipalities

Government of Cambodia
Report On Flood Disaster And Storm (as of the end of September, 2000)

Government of Cambodia
Reports of Relief Assistance To Target Provinces/Municipalities　(as of the end of September, 2000)

Government of Cambodia 2000/09/07 No.3
Relief Assistance to Target Provinces/Municipalities

Government of Cambodia 2000/09/07 No.2
Planning for Assistance to Target Provinces/Municipalities

Pictures

Photo Report of Floods in Cambodia by Mr. Aota, senior researcher of ADRC.
Photos of Floods Situation in Phnom Penh and the surrounding areas. (2000.9.18 & 19)