WB assists Cambodia's poor affected by typhoon Ketsana

November 03, 2010
Xinhua

The World Bank has approved 40 million U.S. dollars in grant and credit to Cambodia to help restore the losses and damage from the typhoon Ketsana in Cambodia.

In a statement released Wednesday by the World Bank Office in Cambodia, it said the grant and credit will be used in the form of the Ketsana Emergency Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project ( KERRP) aimed to restore transportation and water and sanitation services to the affected people who are mostly poor and live in the rural areas, as well as to strengthen the capacity of the government in disaster preparedness and management.

"Typhoon Ketsana devastated the lives and livelihood of tens of thousands of Cambodian people, particularly the poor," said the World Bank Country Manager for Cambodia, Qimiao Fan.

"This project will help to restore the damaged infrastructure such as rural roads and provide basic services such as water and sanitation facilities, to the affected people in mostly rural areas," he said.

The International Development Association -- the division of the World Bank that helps the world's poorest countries -- is providing a grant and an interest-free loan for the project, each valued at 20 million U.S. dollars.

This four-year project will focus on four main components such as the rehabilitation, reconstruction and improvement of 920 km of existing rural roads, including bridges, culverts and drainage facilities.

Second, the construction of 1,400 community-based wells with hand pumps, and the building of 32,000 units of pour-flush latrines for the affected households.

Third, Supporting Emergency Response by providing retroactive financial support for specific eligible expenditures for emergency response works and supporting project implementation agencies by providing technical assistance in project management such as detailed surveys, engineering designs, procurement, financial management, construction supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and community outreach.

And fourth, strengthening the capacity building of institutions by supporting the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) in increasing its capacity for disaster preparedness and management.

This will be achieved through the development of national and provincial risk maps, emergency management information, and early warning systems, as well as the development of housing and building codes.

The World Bank's program in Cambodia is designed to provide support to the poorest segments of the population, within the overarching goal to improve governance.

Typhoon Ketsana Costs Cambodia US$284 Million Damages

PHNOM PENH, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Typhoon Ketsana that hit Cambodia last year cost total damages worth US$284 million, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing a government official as saying on Tuesday.

Pov Samy, secretary general of National Committee for Disaster Management told a forum on "natural disaster" in Phnom Penh that the typhoon Ketsana that hit eight provinces in the country.

Of which, he said infrastructure, houses and buildings affecting both the state and private ones cost US$153 million while restoration and rehabilitation of these hardwares would need another US$131 million.

Following Typhoon Ketsana hitting this country in late September, the international aid agency Oxfam has warned several times of food crisis due to the flooding that affected the communities in Cambodia.

Until last month, Oxfam estimated that 100,000 people are affected by the floods and 15,000 households are in need of immediate food assistance.

Eight of total 24 provinces in the country were affected by flooding.

Two killed by tropical storm Mirinae in Cambodia: official

PHNOM PENH, Nov 3, 2009 (AFP) - Tropical storm Mirinae killed a mother and daughter as it swept through eastern Cambodia, government and aid officials said Tuesday.

Mirinae, which battered the storm-weary Philippines as a typhoon at the weekend, was downgraded to a tropical depression before it hit Vietnam and then Cambodia on Monday.

Four other family members were injured when the storm struck northeastern Mondulkiri province Monday evening and toppled a tree on the family's thatched house, provincial vice-governor Svay Sam Ieng told AFP.

"The mother and one of the four daughters were killed while the father and other three daughters have been sent to hospital by the Red Cross," he said.

The storm also left 19 dead in the Philippines and killed at least four people in Vietnam.

Climate shift 'victimises' Cambodia

Local officials say the sheer volume of water dumped by typhoon Ketsana in September pushed floodwaters several kilometers into the plains around the Mekong river
Chea Sarin and her family now survive by selling fruit to tourists from a makeshift shack

Monday, October 26, 2009
By Steve Chao in Katot, Cambodia
Al Jazeera

The village of Katot is a rather unremarkable place. It only ever gets mentioned in passing by tour guides as they take their busses, packed with vacationers, along the dirt road from Cambodia's border with Vietnam.

It is the road, or rather the fact it has been submerged in two meters of water for more than a month, that has now gained Katot some extra attention.

Cambodia's press has labeled it the latest "victim" of climate change. And while the small collection of families, a little more than a dozen, who call Katot home say they have never heard of the term, they can certainly talk about the dramatic shifts in weather that have destroyed much of what they own.

"We've got little to nothing left," says Chea Sarin, a villager who, with her husband, was forced to flee their home when floodwaters began to suddenly rise.

Cambodians are long used to the wet season. And homes built on stilts dot the landscape as testament to the people's resilience to floods. But in Katot, this year was unlike any other in recent memory.

As typhoon Ketsana rolled through the region in late September, the Sarin's watched the bulletins on a small television set in their one-room wooden hut. Weather forecasters warned that the mighty Mekong, the heart and soul of the country, could flood its banks.

"We thought we were safe," says Sarin, "after all, our house is 10km from the river."
Water levels 'still rising'

Wading through waist-high water, Chea's husband, Thoeurn, tries to give us a glimpse of his home. We get within eyesight, but it gets too deep to go further.

"The water came up out of the ground, we don't ever get that much flooding here, we're farmers, so depend on knowing the way the weather works, we really don't know what happened,” he tells us.

Local officials say the sheer amount of water dumped by the typhoon pushed floodwaters several kilometers into the plains around the Mekong. In Katot, four weeks on, the levels continue to rise. Thoeurn points to the lake that now forms his backyard.

"Those were our wheat fields," he says. "We borrowed three hundred dollars to plant them. We were just weeks away from harvest. Now we have nothing for the new year to eat."

One of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, most of Cambodia's farmers grow crops not to sell, but to simply feed themselves.

This year was supposed to see a bumper crop of rice and wheat. But an estimated 30,000 hectares throughout the country have been destroyed.

Groups like Oxfam are warning of a looming food crisis, with international aid too slow to come.

"These are usually called the hunger months right before harvest," says Francis Perez of Oxfam. "People were depending so much in terms of their livelihood on this harvest. The typhoon came at the most vulnerable time for many farmers in Cambodia."

The experiences of those in Katot offer a snapshot of what the government fears will be the impact of climate change on the country in years to come.

Compensation demand

"Cambodia didn't cause climate change but... Because we have a very limited adaptive capacity, our people don't have enough resources, so our people will suffer the most" - Navann Ouk, Cambodian climate council member

In the capital Phnom Penh, authorities this week held the country's first-ever conference on climate change, chaired by Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Sen.

"Poor countries are the ones most affected from the crisis that was originated elsewhere, because they have very little resources to cope with climate change," said Hun Sen at the opening of the Climate forum.

Studies by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) show that the temperature along the Mekong river has risen between 0.5 and 1.5 degrees celsius over the last 50 years, and is predicted to rise another 2 to 4 degrees celsius by the end of the century.

The WWF warns this will lead to even more severe weather changes, from increased flooding to drought. The group also warns that tens of millions of people throughout the Mekong river basin will be forced from their traditional lands.

Cambodia, a nation that only a few years ago reached a level of production making it able to feed itself, is worried by the devastating affects of climate change.

To help it cope, authorities are demanding wealthy nations provide hundreds of millions of dollars to fund programmes to help people and wildlife adapt.

"Cambodia didn't cause climate change but, in fact, we've received a lot of impact from it," says Navann Ouk, a member of Cambodia's climate council.

"Because we have a very limited adaptive capacity, our people don't have enough resources, so our people will suffer the most."

Homeless, facing hunger

"We have no way to pay for seeds to plant a new crop. What will we do?" - Chea Sarin, displaced farmer

On the only patch of high ground beside the main road which the Sarins use as a temporary shelter, sodden blankets and wet clothes hang under a makeshift tarp, meant to keep the constant rain from making an even wetter mess of their remaining possessions.

The rain is another anomaly they tell us.

"The wet season was supposed to be over a few weeks ago but in recent years it has continued to stretch later and later," says Thoeurn.

Living in one of the most remote parts of Cambodia, the Sarins know that aid won't likely reach them for some time to come.

And so they use what they were able to scavenge from their home to set up a small roadside stand, selling tea and fruit to the groups of tourists that must now walk a few hundred metres on foot, as their busses try to navigate through the flood.

"It will help pay for some things, but we're still heavily in debt" Chea Sarin says. "We have no way to pay for seeds to plant a new crop. What will we do?"

Cambodia finalizes Typhoon Ketsana death toll at 43

Oct 22, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian authorities released final figures Thursday showing that 43 people died in the kingdom when Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country in late September.

The National Committee for Disaster Management said the typhoon injured 67 people and affected more than 66,000 families. Around 10,000 homes were damaged.

'More people died during the floods that followed the storm,' said the committee's deputy director for information, Keo Vy, explaining the agency's increased figures.

Keo Vy added that the typhoon had seriously affected agriculture and infrastructure in 13 provinces across the country, damaging 54,500 hectares of rice fields just weeks before the rice harvest. Dozens of bridges were damaged as were 320 kilometres of mainly rural roads.

The final figures for Cambodia showed that Ketsana also flooded more than 1,100 schools.

Before hitting Cambodia, Ketsana tore through the Philippines, where it killed 464 people, and central Vietnam, where at least 159 people died.

Tyhoon kills 35, destroys $41 mln in properties in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) gave an initial estimation at last weekend's meeting that Typhoon Ketsana, which hit Cambodia recently, claimed 35 lives and cost 41 million U.S. dollars in damages, official news agency AKP reported on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by governors, deputy governors from 11provinces affected by the storm in late September, and officials from the involved ministries, departments and institutions.

According to AKP, officials from the 11 Ketsana-hit provinces Kampong Thom, Rattanakiri, Preah Vihear, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng and Kampot submitted their reports individually on the devastating case to the meeting, bringing the initial damage of rice fields and roads to 41 million U.S. dollars, while the dead toll is up to 35 people, of them 20 have been found dead in Kampong Thom, four in Rattanakiri, five in Kampong Cham, four in Siem Reap and two in Kampot.

Kampong Thom province was the hardest affected by the typhoon, said a representative from the Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology.

The estimated assessment of the damage should be compiled into a proper document for the emergency request of assistance, Nhem Vanda, NCDM first vice president, who presided over the meeting was quoted by AKP as saying. Some donors, including the World Bank, the Disaster Committee of ASEAN and Japan, etc. have expressed their willingness to provide aid for the victims, he said.

Cambodia: Rebuilding lives after Typhoon Ketsana

19 Oct 2009
Source: Oxfam

Thach You, like thousands of others in Cambodia, is struggling to keep a roof over her family's head and find enough food for her children following a season of devastating floods. Oxfam is providing relief assistance.

Flooding is not new for Thach You, a 25-year-old mother of five. Thach's house, which stands on stilts, is flooded for a week almost every year. But this year, floodwaters have reached higher and have lasted for three months. Around her house and beyond, a vast body of water covers over 80 percent of the rice fields vital to the local livelihoods in her village.

Like most of the 47 families in Toul Char, a village 143 miles north of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, Thach's family left their house to escape the danger and since mid-July they have taken refuge on higher ground. This was especially warranted after two near- fatal incidents with her two-year-old daughter who fell into the flood waters.

Conditions grew worse for Thach's family on September 29 after typhoon Ketsana, which coincided with the annual floods, dumped heavy rains on the region. The family's temporary shelter, made of palm leaves and tree branches, was no match for the onslaught.

"On the night of the typhoon, the wind was so strong that the roof could not stand it anymore," said Thach. The wind tore it off. "The downpour of rain was frightening. I used sleeping mats to cover my four children and a blanket to cover my then two-week-old daughter while my husband and I were trembling in the rainwater praying for the storm to end."

The same storm devastated parts of the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos.

Across Cambodia, the storm affected an estimated 100,000 people. Floods and heavy rain hit eight provinces in central and northern Cambodia. Oxfam's reports show 10,867 families being affected with 19 deaths in Kampong Thom province alone. Oxfam is now focusing relief efforts on three hard-hit provinces: Kampong Thom, Kratie, and Stueng Treng. About 97,000 people in the three provinces are affected with 40,000 hectares of rice fields destroyed. Public infrastructure and private property, including houses and livestock, were damaged or lost, causing major disruption to people's livelihoods.

Keeping her family safe

After the typhoon destroyed her roof, Thach had to find palm leaves to rebuild it—while the rain kept pouring, sometimes non-stop for days. Every day, the family looked for food and hoped that the rain would stop.

When Thach's village finally became accessible, she received an Oxfam relief kit containing one plastic sheet, one water filter, two sleeping mats, one mosquito net, one krawma (a traditional multi-purpose scarf in Cambodia), one sarong, one kettle, two 16-liter buckets, one 80-liter bucket, and a bar of soap. These items have helped her to make the living conditions a little better and to ensure that the family has clean drinking water which will help fend off some waterborne diseases.

Thach told Oxfam that finding enough food for her family has been a challenge. A month earlier, she had received 60 kilograms of rice from a relief organization, but that food was long gone because she had to feed the family and return some of the rice she had borrowed from others. To get by, Thach and her husband skip meals so that their children can have more. But malnutrition is already visible.

"Now, it's extremely difficult to borrow rice from others because everybody is in urgent need of rice," Thach said. "Today I could only borrow four kilograms of cassavas and this will keep my children full for only two days."

Oxfam is working to assist 5,000 other hard-hit households by distributing relief items. It has reached 75 percent of them, but the challenges are growing.

"More efforts by humanitarian agencies are needed as receding waters become shallow, disrupting delivery of aid by boat," said Francis Perez, country lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia. "Oxfam will consider giving cash for food if that is the only resort to avoid hunger."

Concern about public health

Food isn't the only worry for Thach's family. Health is also an issue—one that Oxfam is concerned about, too, as water-related diseases are increasing and access to medical care for many people is difficult.

In Thach's village, Chief Houen Chea said only four families in his community went to a health center within the last three months. The nearest one is nearly five miles away and now a boat is necessary to reach it.

Thach's husband, Lun Peang, can hardly walk as his foot was cut with a bamboo thorn. The foot continues to swell and he cannot perform even the basic daily chores. But Lun never sought medical help.

"Even if the public health center does not charge me fees, I will not go because I do not have the $1 I need to pay for the boat to the center," Lun said.

Oxfam plans to reach an additional 5,000 families in the recovery phase in the next three to six months to help provide sanitation, rehabilitate safe water sources, and ensure food and livelihood security for the affected communities.

2009 Cambodia flooding: CWS emergency appeal

15 Oct 2009
Source: Church World Service (CWS)

SITUATION:

The effects of Typhoon Ketsana on Cambodia exacerbated an already serious flooding situation in the country; at least 14 people died in flooding caused when the typhoon hit Cambodia on Sept. 29. (The storm also badly affected Vietnam and the Philippines; a separate appeal for the Philippines, Appeal # 6537, was issued Oct. 8.)

In Kompong Thom Province, where CWS works, 10,684 families in 254 villages were affected. The damage was widespread: 14,862 hectors of paddy rice were completely destroyed, and 34,078 meters of road cut off. At least 98 houses and public buildings were completely destroyed and another 430 houses and public buildings were badly damaged.

CWS was part of a multi-agency coalition that assessed damage in late September and early October both from flooding prior to the typhoon and flooding caused by Ketsana.

CWS RESPONSE:

Initial CWS relief assistance included food distribution to 112 families of such items as rice and canned fish. In the next phase, CWS plans to assist 3,841 affected families, or 19,435 persons, with adequate and appropriate food and non-food items, and later, working to provide longer-term food security, as well as access to clean water, and improved sanitation and hygiene facilities. The focus will be on 41 villages in Kompong Thom Province. Twenty-one villages will be assisted directly by CWS Cambodia and 20 villages will receive assistance implemented through CWS partners.

Through January, CWS will distribute the following to the 3,841 families. Food items (totals): White rice - 100 metric tons; canned fish:- 2,000 packs; vegetable oil - 2,749 litres; iodine salt - 2,749 kg; fish sauce - 2,749 bottles; soya sauce - 2,749 bottles; dry salt fish - 2,000 kg. Non-food items to be distributed include mosquito nets - 200; water containers - 500; water purification materials - 1,590; detergent - 1,590 packages; scarves - 1,590 pieces; blankets - 100; sarongs - 100; medicine packages - 100 sets; plastic sheeting - 100; construction material packages - 100 sets.

The second, early recovery stage, through October 2010, will consist of promoting food security and livelihood for the villages. This includes provision of rice seed - 23 metric tons; vegetable seed - 2.75 metric tons; water pumping machines - 16 sets; training to the most affected households on rice production, home gardening, animal raising; support for veterinary services for animal treatments; and raising awareness on sanitation and hygiene to 41 targeted villages. As well, support capacity building efforts that include disaster management trainings for the 41 villages.

Finally, reconstruction efforts will include providing 85 hand pump wells; 85 open wells; 165 household latrines; repair or rehabilitate 2,500 meters of canals or dams, 2,000 meters of village roads; three bridges; and 20 sites where water gates and culverts were damaged.

BUDGET includes $373,177 in direct assistance, including $176,463 for crisis phase assistance (food and non-food items, shelter, etc.) and $196,714 in post-crisis assistance measures, such as food security and livelihood efforts and reconstruction work.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent to your denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: 2009 Cambodia Flooding (#699-O).

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.

CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts:
(212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org

Cambodia to estimate typhoon Ketsana's cost this weekend

PHNOM PENH, Oct 13, 2009 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia plans to collect and conclude this weekend all figures and data of damages around the country from the recent Typhoon Ketsana and flooding, a government official said Tuesday.

Keo Vy, communication officer of Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management said officials and authorities from around the country will get together this coming Friday in Phnom Penh to sum up all figures and data of damages caused by Ketsana and flooding in Cambodia's recent weeks.

He said the estimate cost so far is about 29 million U.S. dollars and agriculture sector is the hardest hit as tens of thousands of rice paddies have been destroyed.

He said the estimate cost from the typhoon and flooding could be higher as infrastructure, mainly roads, have been damaged in many parts.

Twenty-four people was killed by the typhoon, and more than 20 others died due to severe flooding.

Kompong Thom is one of the seven provinces in the country hardest hit by the typhoon.

Cambodia to re-develop typhoon-hit region

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the government officials and relevant ministries to work together to restore the infrastructures in the Typhoon Ketsana-hit region.

The prime minister made the order at Friday's cabinet meeting. "We have to restore the agricultural infrastructures which were hit by the storm, and set up the top priorities for maintenance with our own financial abilities," Hun Sen said in a statement.

"We should ensure that no one died of hunger," he said, adding we have to facilitate to rebuild housings for victims to accommodate.

Hun Sen highly appreciated the local forces and officials who contributed to help victims timely, and thanked the charitable organizations and people for their help, according to the statement obtained here Saturday.

Nit Nhel, chief cabinet for National Disaster Management Committee told Xinhua that "so far we have not valued the cost of the damage. We have focused on offering shelters and foods for the victims, monitoring their health and other diseases.

"We played for a key role for coordinating other organizations in providing food because we want to provide for all victims," he said, adding the flood is starting to recede in some areas.

At the same time, Seang Soleak, spokesman for the Oxfam international in Phnom Penh said that "we are concerned about the food supply and its price for next year because many rice fields of local people were destroyed by storm and flood.

Now, the flood following the rise of water level of the Mekong River is affecting Kratie province and rice fields in Kratie could be affected, he said.

Last week, Ketsana storm hit Cambodia and killed at least 20 people in Kompong Thom, Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri provinces, and also destroyed hundreds of houses, roads, dam for agricultural irrigation, and thousands of hectares of rice fields.

On Thursday, Hun Sen said the government and the World Bank will study the impact and the bank will contribute for re-development of the region destroyed by the typhoon.

Over 5,000 Families Need Immediate Help In Cambodia :Oxfam

PHNOM PENH, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Cambodia is still in emergency relief mode though flood waters in some areas are beginning to stabilize, the international humanitarian agency Oxfam said Tuesday in its press release.

Affected populations are in need of food, plastic sheets, mosquito nets, water filters and water containers among other non- food item needs, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Livelihoods have greatly been threatened especially with loss of the current rice crop. Wage labour opportunities are no longer available to those who rely on agriculture labour for income, the release said.

According to Oxfam, 5,000 families or about 20,000 people need immediate assistance in four provinces.

This figure may grow bigger as more information is received and more areas accessed. Oxfam's staff reported that flood victims in Kampong Thom, Stueng Treng, Kratie, and Preah Vihear remain among the most vulnerable.

"We can't underestimate the situation" said Francis Perez, Country Lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia.

"We are still in an emergency situation. Public health concerns and people's livelihoods are our priorities. We must keep strong coordination with other humanitarian agencies."

It is now estimated that 60,000 people are affected with at least 17 deaths including one pregnant woman, 65 injured with 18 serious cases and 30,000 hectares of rice fields and plantation destroyed by flood waters.

Oxfam's field reports show that 1,519 houses, 55 public buildings, 40 km of rural roads, 160 irrigation systems, channels, dams, embankments, and three bridges were damaged, causing major disruption to people's livelihoods. Relief works are hampered by transportation problem as roads and bridges have been damaged.

The traditionally dispersed settlements of Cambodian people also make some of the forested villages inaccessible for need assessment and aid distribution, whilst public health concerns are mounting among unaccounted population in remote and forested villages.

Oxfam's health experts warn that people must be careful about drinking water, as flood waters are highly contaminated.

Typhoon death toll rising in Cambodia, US military assist with Philippines relief effort

Tuesday, October 06, 2009
ABC Radio Australia

The death toll in Cambodia is at least 17 after Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country.

But the National Committee for Disaster Management believes that number is likely to increase still further.

Ketsana caused widespread flooding in Cambodia, destroying homes and crops, and displacing thousands of families.

It passed through after earlier battering Vietnam and the Philippines, where hundreds of people died.

Relief effort

The American military says hundreds of its troops are involved in the flood relief effort in the Philippines.

Officials say marines and sailors posted in the Manila area have been helping to clear roads, deliver supplies and provide basic medical care.

The capital has been hard hit area by two typhoons and flood water has been slow to recede.

Gwendoline Pang, of the Philippine Red Cross, says continuing bad weather is hampering progress.

"In the evacuation centres, it's so congested, and they've been there for more than a week already, almost two weeks. Also the clean-up effort is becoming very challenging, because before we can clean up the area, another typhoon is coming again," said Ms. Pang.

Typhoon death toll in Cambodia reaches 17

Mon, 05 Oct 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian authorities on Monday said 17 people died and 65 were injured after Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country last week. "This is the biggest storm that I have seen in all my time working here," said Keo Vy, the deputy head of information at the National Committee for Disaster Management, who has worked at the centre since 1995.

Keo Vy said the toll could increase to 21 if four other people who drowned off the southern coast when their vessel sank on September 30 were included. One person survived the sinking.

The committee said about 22,700 families were affected by the storm in four provinces. Nearly 200 homes were destroyed and 644 others were damaged.

The typhoon caused widespread flooding, with its effects felt across Cambodia. The disaster agency said the storm damaged at least 22,000 hectares of rice fields.

The country director of international aid agency Oxfam-GB said Monday that as many as 35,000 hectares of rice fields were damaged.

"We are still in an emergency situation," said Francis Perez, adding that Oxfam was providing aid in some areas and still assessing conditions in others.

Oxfam said 14,000 families were displaced by the typhoon.

"We are looking at reaching 5,000 families this week, and have helped 2,500 families. So we are halfway to our target," Perez said.

The national disaster agency said the typhoon killed nine people in Kampong Thom province, 150 kilometres north of Phnom Penh, and three others in Siem Reap. Three more died in Ratanakkiri province in the east, while two were killed in Kampong Chhnang province.

Ketsana made landfall in central Vietnam early last week causing at least 159 deaths and widespread flooding before heading west into Cambodia. It had earlier caused severe damage and hundreds of deaths in the Philippines.

More destruction expected for typhoon-hit Cambodia: Oxfam

PHNOM PENH, Oct 03, 2009 (Xinhua) -- Oxfam predicts more widespread destruction caused by Typhoon Ketsana and a higher demand for immediate humanitarian assistance in Cambodia, press release from the Oxfam international said here Saturday.

An initial assessment shows that at least 17 people died and 47 others injured in Kampong Thom alone due to the effects of the Typhoon, which brought unusually high volume of rainfall to the Southeast Asian country, it said.

It added Kompong Thom is not the only affected province. At least eight more provinces were affected with Preah Vihear, Steung Treng and Kratie being severely affected. Therefore, the worst has yet to come as the rising water levels continue to ravage these provinces, and a larger destruction is underway.

"The floods are affecting more people and wider areas of the country than we initially estimated," said Francis Perez, Country Lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia.

"Greater cooperation and immediate action on the part of humanitarian agencies in the country is increasingly important to ensure that groups with different kinds of emergency needs and vulnerabilities such as women, children, elderly, and people with disabilities and HIV/AIDS are prioritized," said the release.

There is a high risk that more lives will be lost, more families and livestock will be displaced, houses collapsed, roads, bridges, hospital and school buildings damaged. Public health concerns are making their way to some evacuation areas due to lack of sanitation.

An early damage estimate of more than 30,000 hectares of rice paddy and crops could be doubled or even tripled as flood waters continue to rise. This could cause a severe crop failure for Cambodia's largely farming population, according to the release.

Oxfam's staff reported that water levels increased half a meter in Preah Vihear Friday night, causing the already evacuated population to struggle even harder. Up to 4,000 families or 20,000 people were affected in Preah Vihear compared to just 100 families a week ago.

Asia Economies May Escape From ‘Almost Unprecedented’ Disasters

By Michael Dwyer

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Asia-Pacific countries may escape major economic damage from an “almost unprecedented” series of natural disasters that struck the region in the past week.

“There will be minimal economic impact because the regions affected are not major sources of growth,” said Song Seng-Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK Securities Pte in Singapore. “For now, this is a human rather than economic story. In fact, there could be a mild boost from reconstruction works.”

Typhoons in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, an earthquake in Indonesia and a tsunami in the South Pacific highlighted the region’s position as the world’s “disaster hot spot,” according to the United Nations. Asia is leading the global economy from its deepest recession since the 1930s after policy makers slashed interest rates and governments announced more than $950 billion of stimulus measures.

“I don’t think these idiosyncratic shocks will throw the Asian recovery story off course,” said Wai Ho Leong, Barclays Capital’s senior regional economist in Singapore. “We have seen the experience of Sichuan and more recently in Taiwan. Over an extended time period, there was no discernible impact on gross domestic product on a net basis.”

At least 1,100 people were killed by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Sept. 30, according to the UN. The toll will probably rise as rescuers reach damaged areas, John Holmes, the agency’s humanitarian chief, said Oct. 1.

‘Disaster Hot Spot’

Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated Manila and other parts of the Philippine island of Luzon on Sept. 26, leaving 293 people dead and as many as 676,235 in evacuation centers. In the South Pacific, a recovery operation is under way after a tsunami killed more than 150 in the Samoan islands.

“It is almost unprecedented for any region to experience so many disasters over such a short period of time,” UN Under- Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer said in a statement. “The disasters of the past week remind us that Asia-Pacific is the world’s disaster hot spot.”

China’s southwest Sichuan province is spending more than 3 trillion yuan ($440 billion) to rebuild houses, highways and railways destroyed by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck in May 2008, according to Vice Provincial Governor Wei Hong. The World Bank estimated direct economic losses from the temblor that killed at least 87,000 people at 844 billion yuan.

Reconstruction spending after Taiwan’s deadliest typhoon in 50 years in early August may improve the island’s economic performance, the statistics bureau said Aug. 20. Planned outlays on typhoon-hit areas would result in the economy contracting 3.75 percent this year instead of 4.04 percent, the agency said.

Reconstruction Projects

“Rebuilding has an accelerating effect on GDP,” said Barclays’ Leong. “Typically, it more than makes up for such shocks. The overall impact on the economy might even be positive, if we factor in rebuilding programs.”

Indonesia has 100 billion rupiah ($10.4 million) ready to be spent on relief efforts after this week’s quake on Sumatra and has set aside an additional 150 billion rupiah as backup funds, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Oct. 1.

“The quake has implications for the economy due to the damage on infrastructure. West Sumatra is a region with an important economic role,” Sri Mulyani said. “The government is serious in dealing with this infrastructure problem.”

Indonesia’s economy may not suffer too much from the temblor as the three western provinces affected -- West Sumatra, Bengkulu and Jambi -- contribute less than 3 percent of the country’s GDP, said Helmi Arman, an economist at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia in Jakarta.

Philippine Evacuations

“From a national perspective, the disaster in Sumatra will not significantly impact Indonesia’s economy,” Arman said.

The Philippines yesterday started evacuations as a second typhoon headed for Luzon. The government has declared a “state of calamity” for the Manila metropolitan region and other parts of Luzon island as well as Mindoro island to the south.

“It is too early to assess the impact on the Philippines economy,” said Dennis Botman, the International Monetary Fund’s country representative in the Philippines. “But early indications suggest that the economic costs pale in comparison to the human suffering caused by this calamity.”

The damage caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana may reduce Philippine economic growth by at least 0.043 percentage points, Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said Sept. 29. Growth may slow to a range of 0.7 percent to 1.7 percent compared with a target of 0.8 percent to 1.8 percent, he said.

‘Miniscule’ Effect

The “surprisingly miniscule” impact from the storm was “because the calamity spared much of the country’s agricultural and manufacturing heartlands,” said Anton Periquet, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Manila. “Banks, brokers, call centers, shops and even the entertainment industry -- a large part of the metro Manila economy that was hit by the typhoon -- can function as long as the telephones work.”

The heaviest rains in Manila and surrounding provinces in more than four decades may still reduce the nation’s rice production in the October-December harvest by about 3 percent, the Department of Agriculture said Oct. 1.

“The Philippines is no stranger to natural disaster,” said Deutsche’s Periquet. “The country has always bounced back.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Dwyer in Singapore at mdwyer5@bloomberg.net

Tropical storm Ketsana death toll in Cambodia reaches 14

Fri, 02 Oct 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - Fourteen people died in Cambodia when tropical storm Ketsana swept through the country earlier this week, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Friday. "I don't expect there will be more fatalities from the storm," Khieu Kanharith told the German Press Agency dpa.

The head of the National Committee for Disaster Management, Peou Samy, said another 43 people were injured, some seriously.

He said the wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen would visit the worst-affected province of Kampong Thom on Friday in her capacity as the head of the Cambodian Red Cross to hand out relief supplies to victims.

Other agencies - including Oxfam and World Vision - are also planning to distribute aid in the coming days.

Peou Samy said nine people had died in Kampong Thom province, where 40 houses collapsed. Kampong Thom lies 150 kilometres north of the capital Phnom Penh.

Another three died in Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple complex. Two more were killed in Ratanakkiri in the country's north-east.

The European Union said Wednesday it would donate 2 million euros (3 million dollars) in emergency aid to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

Ketsana made landfall in central Vietnam on Tuesday, causing at least 74 deaths and widespread flooding before heading west into Cambodia.

The storm then headed north in to Laos, where it weakened.

It had earlier caused severe damage and hundreds of deaths in the Philippines.

Vietnam, Cambodia clean up after deadly storms

01 October, 2009
TravelMole.com

HANOI – A massive clean up is continuing across Indochina after typhoon Ketsana left a destructive path through central Vietnam and Cambodia.

The storm destroyed or damaged nearly 170,000 homes and flattened crops in six Vietnamese provinces, officials said, while more than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path.

The coastal resort town of Da Nang was hardest hit, with hundreds of people injured and thousands of homes destroyed. Flooding was also reported in the port town of Hoi An, another popular tourist spot.

Floodwaters rose and mudslides buried houses in Vietnam while storm winds flattened houses in Cambodia.

The storm, which first struck the Philippines on the weekend, killing 246 people and leaving 42 missing, cut through Vietnam and Cambodia as it made its way into Laos and Thailand.

Vietnamese government officials said it could confirm that 66 people were killed during the storm, some by landslides and some by falling trees.

Cambodian authorities put the death toll there at 11.

The aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana: Damages and death toll

Floodwaters caused by Typhoon Ketsana cover the front of the Allson Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap, 320 km (199 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, October 1, 2009. Cambodia is continuing to battle rising floodwaters from the typhoon that has cut a destructive path through South East Asia and killed about 300 people. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Children ride in a kayak through floodwaters caused by Typhoon Ketsana in Siem Reap, 320 km (199 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh, October 1, 2009. Cambodia is continuing to battle rising floodwaters from the typhoon that has cut a destructive path through South East Asia and killed about 300 people. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A Cambodian boy collects damaged roof titles after Typhoon Ketsana struck, in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles)north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29 others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian man saws through a tree which fell over his house following Typhoon Ketsana in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian man carries household items on a muddy road of a village hit by Typhoon Ketsana in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29 others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian couple clean inside their damaged house after Typhoon Ketsana struck, in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29 others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian villagers carry coffins loaded with bodies of villagers who died during Typhoon Ketsana in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29 others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodians walk through a flooded road following Typhoon Ketsana in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring some 29 others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian man saws through a tree which fell over his house following Typhoon Ketsana in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring over two dozen others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Villagers pass damaged houses after Typhoon Ketsana struck the area in Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring over two dozen others, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian villagers carry coffins loaded with bodies of villagers who died during Typhoon Ketsana at Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring 29, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian military police officers carry coffins loaded with bodies of villagers who died during Typhoon Ketsana at Teuk Mileang village, in Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring 29, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian villagers prepare loaded coffins of villagers who died during Typhoon Ketsana at Teuk Mileang village, Sandan district, Kampong Thom province, about 250 kilometers (155 miles), north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Typhoon Ketsana swept into central Cambodia and toppled dozens of rickety homes, killing at least 11 people and injuring 29, disaster officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Typhoon Ketsana death toll climbs to 14 in Cambodia

Typhoon Ketsana kills 14, injures dozens in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 30
KYODO

At least 14 people died and dozens were injured as Typhoon Ketsana pounded Cambodia for the second day Wednesday, in its central and northeastern parts.

Typhoon Ketsana kills 11 in Cambodia

September 30, 2009
AFP

Typhoon Ketsana has killed at least 11 people in northeastern and central Cambodia, officials say.

Nine were killed and 28 injured in central Cambodia while two died in the northeast overnight as the country was battered by the storm, officials said on Wednesday.

"At least nine people were crushed last night when their houses fell down," said Chea Cheat, chief of the Red Cross office in central Kampong Thom province.

Chea Cheat added that at least 78 houses in his province were destroyed Tuesday evening and that heavy rain and rising floods were continuing.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their inundated homes, Ray Rai, police chief of northeastern Ratanakiri province, told AFP.

Seth Vannareth, director of Cambodia's department of meteorology, said Cambodians were experiencing high flooding but the storm's high winds were decreasing as it moved over the country.

"It will be not very strong anymore. It is not a typhoon anymore," she said.

International organisations and government officials in Cambodia said they were distributing tents and food to affected people while assessing damage across at least five of the country's provinces.

At least 284 were killed in the Philippines and Vietnam as Ketsana wreaked havoc across the region.

The typhoon slammed into Vietnam on Tuesday, killing dozens of people during floods and landslides that caused almost 170,000 people to flee their homes, officials said.

At least 246 had died in the Philippines when Ketsana, then a weaker tropical storm, devastated Manila at the weekend.