UNDAC message on the flood situation in Cambodia

On 22 September the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team in Cambodia conducted a field assessment trip to Kandal, one of the provinces most severely affected by the recent floods. They sent OCHA Geneva an initial message, illustrated with pictures of the flooded landscape.
"We visited three villages, one health centre and two evacuation centres by boat. The villages we visited all are in deep water, from 1-3 metres. People are struggling to cope with the difficult situation. In the two evacuation centres, people told us that they had already been there for 2-4 weeks. Some kids got sick, but mainly with fever and diarrhoea. There was no medical care, no clean water, and insufficient shelter. Some people keep telling us that they are hungry and others said that they did not have medicine when children got sick. The situation is serious. Many people from the flooded villages have to stay either side of the roads, which could be flooded easily if it continues to rain for another week. If this is the case, it will be a disaster because people have no place to go - no high ground to flee to.

Our impression is that the impact of the flood on people is severe and people do need relief assistance. For example, people described how they could not sleep last night because of the rain, the noise of the storm and the unusually chilly weather. A lot of them have no blankets. According to what we saw and what we heard during these visits, people may have to remain in this situation for another 4- 6 weeks at least. In this case they may also miss their planting season."