Over 1m People Estimated at Risk

The official estimate as of October 31st, 2011 is that 90,300 families in 15 flood-hit provinces have been affected and 97 individuals have perished in Cambodia as a direct result of flooding, including one Westerner. At the moment, about 170,000 hectares of rice fields have been submerged and more than 300 schools were closed, according to Keo Vy, communication officer of the National Committee for Disaster Management.

While the numbers seem high, our local staff have been working on mitigating the impact of the floods. "The Reservoir has helped quite a bit to lessen the flooding below the watergate," said Kat Bun Heng, Director of HT's Community Translation Organization.  And though our had to physically relocated in Siem Reap because of the high water, the team is gearing up to respond to the needs of the villagers in Balang.

Approximately 20% of the local rice crops across 8 villages have been ruined by the flooding. But more worrisome still is that several wells have been contaminated by the flooding, and we are doing our best to help villagers get the support they need.