Cambodia Experiences Worst Flooding in Five Years

The 2018 wet season brought an abundance of rain following a drought the year before. The Mekong River overflowed its banks beginning in early August flooding over 21 provinces in Cambodia, the worst flooding in more than five years.

Nearly 135,000 families have been impacted by the flooding over the last two months, and more than 12,000 families were evacuated from their homes during the worst of the flooding. Tragically, sixty-one people have perished due to the flooding. Cambodia government officials declared six provinces as disaster areas.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to the crisis as its LDS Charities organization partnered with the Cambodian government and other international disaster relief organizations to provide food for the displaced families. The Church’s LDS Charities provided food for 1,760 families.

Items distributed included 50 kilograms of rice, cooking oil, ramen noodles, fish and soy sauce; designed to feed a family of five for six weeks. President John W. Lewis of the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission along with senior missionaries and Church service center employees met with three different provincial governors at various designated relief sites to deliver the food and offer support and encouragement to the affected people in those provinces. President Lewis said, “what a wonderful thing it is to witness the Church blessing the lives of so many through our humanitarian efforts”.