August 12, 2020
Flood preparedness in capital assured

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology yesterday said thorough strategies are being enforced to mitigate possible adverse effects of floods on property and the community.

The assurance comes as concerns for flash floods mount amid the constant spells of rain felt in the capital this month.

Ministry spokesman Chan Yutha also laid out reasons behind flooding in the city.

“Most incidents of flooding in the capital are caused by rising water levels in the Mekong River and Prek Tnaot stream caused by heavy downpour,” he added, noting the low bed gradient and narrow river mouth of the Prek Tnaot basin which makes flood occurrences during heavy downpour highly likely.

Given these, Yutha assured a study conducted by the Water Resources Ministry, in cooperation with Chinese firms, is already underway to assess possible solutions and reduce the frequency of inundation in Phnom Penh.

He also claimed that the water overflow in the Mekong River bank is no longer a risk due to the construction of a dam in Tom Nom Kob Srov district.

Despite this, Yutha said further research is needed on the patterns and impact of heavy rainfall in the capital to manage, improve and possibly expand the capital’s drainage system which, in turn, will reduce the frequency of flooding.

Over the past few days, multiple incidents of flooding were reported in the capital, notably in the Phsar Doeum Kor market. However, the water receded a few hours later due to the flooding and drainage infrastructure development project of the municipal hall, said Yutha, noting the administration’s move to replace the capital’s drainage systems with larger ones.

Finally, Yutha said that should there be 40 millimetres of rain per hour, flooding is unlikely to occur. Otherwise, he assured that the restored drainage systems are more than capable of controlling inundation.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50754082/f ... l-assured/

Perhaps they should dig a few lakes so the water has somewhere to go.

Username Taken wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:11 am Perhaps they should dig a few lakes so the water has somewhere to go.

In my early days in Cambodia, and my first few visits to Phnom Penh, you couldn't miss the flooding and evidence of it to the north of the city when you fly in. It was very much reminiscent of the effects that I saw before in Dhaka, and to some extent in Chittagong, in Bangladesh, where low gradient, and poor building controls had resulted in the loss of many of the natural waterways, and resulted in flooding which didn't naturally drain. Wet monsoon would see a normally dry area under water in minutes simply for the huge amount of water with nowhere to go, especially once the river levels themselves had risen.
Net result- lakes being created unnaturally, with water that isn't replaced and replenished, going stagnant. Great breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Dhaka, so some history books say, was also loosely referred to as 'Venice of the east' for it's extensive waterways. You could hardly tell they ever existed, now. Greed and uncontrolled desire leading to the loss of the very thing that made certain areas attractive.
It's good to see a consistently naive approach to these things.

SWMBO showed me the view from the balcony overlooking st154 yesterday, in the rain. I guess it was a bit wet, but seems to have cleared up ok. Which are the hardest hit areas of the city?