Floods, extended monsoon hit Cambodia after drought

At least 20 people died, and more than 1,700 families have been evacuated in Cambodia following devastating floods triggered by torrential rain after the end of a drought in the Southeast Asian nation.

About 70,000 families have been impacted by floods so far, reports say.

Weather forecasters have predicted this year’s monsoon will extend into December providing a respite for Cambodian farmers who are struggling to recover from the drought. However, rescue efforts were complicated by the floods.

In many parts of the country provincial schools have closed, celebrations marking the annual water festival in November were canceled, and land mines were unearthed, shifted or washed down to rivers. The flooding has reportedly destroyed almost 30,000 hectares of rice fields across the country.

Chan Yutha, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, told reporters the impact of the La Nina weather phenomena is up and at 65 percent in effect, meaning heavy rains from the northeast were expected to last from the start of October until the end of the year.

The wet season normally ends in October but La Nina, which occurs every three to five years, results in a cooling of surface water temperatures across the Pacific Ocean that delivers heavier rains across Southeast Asia.

Agencies