October 6, 2022
PHNOM PENH – Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology Lim Kean Hor has called on residents along the Stung Prek Tnaot river in western Phnom Penh and Kandal province not to alter the present waterside for risk of flooding the capital.
“I would like to urge the people who live along Stung Prek Tnaot in the western part of Phnom Penh and Kandal province to maintain the waterfront as it is to ensure the effective and timely drainage of water, otherwise Phnom Penh will be threatened by severe floods,” he said.
Kean Hor was speaking while leading a technical team to inspect the water levels along the Stung Prek Tnaot on October 4.
He also visited the progress of Prek Tnaot irrigation and flood protection system construction project, which stretches through Phnom Penh, Kandal, Takeo and Kampong Speu provinces, with financial assistance from China.
Kean Hor said the project was 70 per cent complete, and, when comparing the river levels during the same period last year, had already greatly facilitated the flow of water.
He said the water levels behind the Stung Prek Tnaot delta dam were currently not high enough to cause concern.
The water in the Stung Prek Tnaot at the 7 Makara dam was at 4.80m as of October 4, below the posted alert height of 5m.
Meanwhile, a 48-year-old has died in floods in Pursat province, said Yem Yoeun, Bakan district police’s deputy chief of security planning.
Man Phoeuk drowned after trying to lead his buffalos across a stream to his house in Srah Run village, in Bakan district’s O’Taporng commune on October 3.
Elsewhere, Preah Vihear provincial authorities on October 4 temporarily closed to all traffic National Road 92 in Choam Ksan district’s Morakot commune from the 100km to 101km posts.
Sam Leangtry, director of the Preah Vihear Provincial Department of Public Works and Transport, told The Post that water had continued to reach emergency levels and flooded National Road 92.
This had necessitated the temporary ban on all vehicles to protect roads and bridges from collapsing and ensure safe travel.
“In the current flood situation, using National Road 92 in this area may be dangerous for travellers and cause further damage to the road.
“We therefore need to temporarily suspend traffic until the water recedes,” he said.
Chap Koy, director of the Preah Vihear Provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology, told the Post that the level of the Stung Sen river in the province had risen to 14.43m, higher than the alert level by 2.07m.
“With this level of rainfall, low-lying areas along the lower reaches of the Stung Sen dam and the reservoir have been continuously flooding,” Koy said.
The situation in Preah Vihear province had improved with lighter rainfall, he added.
However, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology on October 4 has warned that heavy rain will continue, with strong winds and lightning, in the central lowland areas bordering Vietnam and the northeastern mountains and plateaus, as well as the coastal lowlands.
The warning came after meteorological officials observed a low pressure system continuing to extend across the Kingdom with the weak southwest monsoon winds.
Meanwhile, a confluence of high pressure pushing down from China and low pressure moving up from the south is leading to low to moderate rain accompanied by strong winds and lightning, with the lowlands bordering Vietnam particularly at risk.