Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
Relatives of landslide victims urged to reject compensation
A Kachin civil society group is urging relatives of those killed in a landslide near a Hpakant jade mine on 21 November to reject an offer of K600,000 compensation for each victim, and has reiterated threats to press charges against those involved in the mining ...
Laos counts the cost of climate change: record floods, drought and landslides
Villagers in Namai, central Laos, are unanimous in saying that the greatest threat facing Namai now is natural disaster – in the form of cyclones, storms, floods and drought. Over the past 10 years, say village leaders, they have seen record floods, droughts and landslides, ...
Fires gut 24 homes in Phnom Penh
A pair of fires ripped through two Phnom Penh districts in less than 12 hours over 24 November evening and early 25 November morning, completely destroying 24 houses. According to Net Vuntha, Phnom Penh police deputy director in charge of fire and explosives, 15 of the destroyed houses ...
Cambodia at high risk of natural disasters
A report released on 23 November by the United Nations and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters shows that Cambodia’s population is among the world’s 10 most affected by natural disasters. Published on Monday, The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters considers 20 years ...
690 million children at risk from climate change: UNICEF
Nearly 690 million of the world’s 2.3 billion children live in areas most exposed to climate change, facing higher rates of death, poverty and disease from global warming, the UN children’s agency said 24 November. Almost 530 million children live in countries hardest-hit by high floods ...
Another drought year in store for Cambodia
As the weather pattern known as El Niño threatens to wreak havoc on climactic conditions across the globe, the Cambodian government has warned that higher-than-usual temperatures, which already sparked droughts this year, will cause next year’s rainy season to be even shorter. What’s more, the heat ...
Myanmar landslide: 'Many missing' at Kachin jade mine
Many people are still missing after a massive landslide at a jade mine in Myanmar’s northern Kachin state. At least 104 bodies have now been recovered, with some estimates saying more than 100 people are still missing. The incident happened in Hpakant on 21 November when a huge ...
Kampot dam tries to restore image
In the wake of mass flooding, the company behind Cambodia’s first major hydropower dam used a government visit last week to distance itself from recent controversies and quell fears about the project’s alleged downsides. In September, Kampot province experienced widespread flooding that left thousands temporarily homeless ...
Storm fells 100 poles in Ayutthaya
A brief and savage storm blew down about 100 power poles in three districts of Ayutthaya province on Friday, damaging vehicles, residences and shops. No fatalities were reported. The freak storm struck Bang Pa-in, Uthai and Wang Noi districts at about 3pm. The areas with the heaviest ...
Cambodian PM calls for drought aid preparations
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on local authorities and government ministries to be ready to distribute water to farmers around the country due to the ongoing shortage in Cambodia’s reservoirs. “Drought . . . has been threatening our agricultural production, therefore relevant authorities and ministries have to ...