Cambodia Calling: Worse Flooding in Siem Reap town in memory

Friday, October 02, 2009

Worse Flooding in Siem Reap town in memory

Photo of tuktuk driver at the riverside I took yesterday.

The floods are worse, much worse than yesterday. It has been sunny for 2 days now but waters on the main street Sivatha is high. I took a motocycle to work so did not get wet but I just met a customer who walked across Sivatha into town who said the waters reached her knees.

I did see one poor man with his 3 family members (wife and 2 kids) who got their motobike stuck in a pothole hidden from view by the muddy waters. But at least some Cambodians are enjoying the floods. The tourist told me she saw Khmer children playing in the waters outside her guesthouse.

At the Old Market area, water has risen to just two inches below the pavements. Another couple of inches and my shop will be flooded.

My Khmer friends tell me waters from the Siem Reap river is overflowing because the river joins Phnom Kulen, a mountain (487 m) with a famous waterfall. Water off Phnom Kulen has been running into the lower lying areas. I don't know what the outlying villages are like but it is bad in the town centre.

I forgot to take my camera with me but I'm meeting some friends visiting from Singapore for dinner, so I'll use their camera to take the photos. But I am sure the waters will not subside by tomorrow, so I'll be able to take more pics then.

Everyone tells me they have not seen anything like this. Of course human development and the lack of proper drains compound the problem, as I wrote last year on Siem Reap floods and Cambodian floods. There is simply nowhere the waters can flow to.

Earlier this year I met an Irish couple. The husband was employed to work on the main drains on Sivatha Boulevard and there was much construction then but it's obvious the drains can't cope.

Ps: I just read on andybrouwer.com that more than a dozen crocodiles have escaped from a farm in town. Wow. What wouldn't I give for photos!

More Cambodian flood photos from KI Media.

You can also read more about Ketsana's impact on Southeast Asia on globalvoicesonline.org.

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