The water levels of Stung Sen in Preah Vihear provincial town on the morning of August 30 continued to rise, reaching 12.72m, exceeding the alert level by more than 1.22m, officials said.
Preah Vihear provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology director Chap Koy told The Post that water levels was now inundating homes in the northwestern part of Preah Vihear town, a low-lying area.
“The current flooding of the Stung Sen River in Preah Vihear is due to the release of water from the Raksa reservoir in Chey Sen district after water levels in the reservoir reached 44.43m on August29,” he said.
According to Chap Koy, the Raksa reservoir, which was completed just over a month ago, has a water storage capacity of more than 293 million cubic metres. Currently, it is storing more than 256 million cubic metres of water from canals and streams in the upper of the Stung Sen, warranting relief to prevent the dam from collapsing.
“As of 10m on August 30, water levels in the basin had dropped to 43.75m, 0.68m lower than the previous day, prompting our officials to close the Raksa reservoir immediately to preserve water for the coming dry season,” he said.
According an August 30 weather forecast by the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, Cambodia continues to be affected by the Indian low-pressure system and a mild to moderate southwest monsoon. A low pressure system which extends across northern Thailand, Laos and Vietnam may cause light to moderate rainfall, with some thunderstorms.
Ministry spokesman Chan Yutha told The Post that the weather in Preah Vihear had been calm all week, with no heavy rains in the affected area of the province.
“If you look at the current weather conditions, the Stung Sen flood in Preah Vihear has not caused any serious risk because the water in the upper border stream has receded,” he said.
According to data from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), as of August 30 the Stung Sen floods had damaged 3262ha of rice fields, 2083ha of different plantations and some rural roads in Preah Vihear town and three districts – Choam Ksan, Chey Sen and Tbeng Meanchey – while 165 houses were flooded and 74 households evacuated to higher ground.
Yutha said the water levels in the Stung Sen River in Kampong Thom province also jumped on August 30, exceeding their alert level by 1.10m. However, it had not had a major impact on residents.
“Although the water levels are rising, they are rising slowly and have not affected the lives of the people along the river, although they have affected a number of paddy fields,” he said.
In Kampong Thom province, more than 10,000ha of rice fields were affected.