Flooding Forces Stung Treng Families From Homes

Heavy rains combined with the opening of flood gates at a Laos hydropower dam on the Sekong river have caused emergency level flooding in Stung Treng province's Siem Pang district, officials said Tuesday.

?I told my officials that this is a state of emergency so they can help villagers,? District Governor Sy Suon said by telephone.

?Water is up to the waste in some houses in Sekong commune," Mr Suon said, adding that the current water level for the river is 11.9 meters, well above the 11.5-meter mark needed to declare a state of emergency.

Flood waters have forced 195 families from their homes and have already damaged 184 hectares of rice fields, he said.

Stung Treng Provincial Governor Loy Sophat said he was informed by Laotian officials Monday that they had opened the hydropower dam on the Sekong river in Attapu province. ?We had been preparing for normal flooding, but now the situation will be more serious because the dam water is so strong,? he said.

Minor flooding has reached Stung Treng town itself, with water levels on the river reaching 9.88 meters, said provincial deputy police chief Khieu Vongdoeun, who added that the emergency level for the town is 10.5 meters.

However, Mr Vongdoeun said that water levels are expected to rise.

?Now officials at all levels are preparing all means to help peo-ple,? he said.

The Ministry of Water Resources released a statement Sunday to alert provincial and district officials that the Mekong River was expected to flood as a result of a cyclone over northern Vietnam and heavy rain in Cambodia's coastal areas.

However, Seth Vannareth, a meteorologist at Ministry of Water Resource's Meteorology Department, said Tuesday that future expected flooding is more likely to be caused by monsoon rains in the southwest
?[The monsoon] will last this week with heavy rainfall in the coastal area,? she said.

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily