LTO Cambodia: Flooding: A year later

Monday, September 24, 2012

Flooding: A year later

Last year on this day I posted comparison photos of the water level of the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh, showing a dramatic rise in the level between September 17 and September 24. Though there wasn't any flooding in Phnom Penh at the time, flooding was sweeping other parts of the country and getting worse by the day. The rapidly rising river in Phnom Penh hinted the capital city might be next.

This year is quite different. The rain has been much lighter and the rivers not filling as quickly as last year. There were near drought conditions in several provinces in the first months of this monsoon season, and though the rains have increased in recent weeks and there has been flooding in some western provinces, there is no comparison to last year. So far, 2012 is proving to be a comparatively dry year in Cambodia. Still, there is at least 6 weeks left in this year's monsoon season, there has been flooding in neighboring Thailand, and as last year's photos illustrate flood conditions can change quickly.

The photos below were taken from approximately the same spot on the Phnom Penh riverfront (Tonle Sap River,) exactly one year apart: 2011 on the left and 2012 on the right.

River level comparison 2011/2012. Phnom Penh riverfront, Tonle Sap River. (Note the stair steps, particularly in the Sept 24 photos - 2 visible in 2011, 16+ visible in 2012.)

Today's observed water level of the Tonle Sap River at the Phnom Penh Port from the Mekong River Commission. See MRC Cambodia flood info at: MRC Cambodia

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Cambodia

Cambodia is Srok Khmer, the 'Land of the Khmer,' the primary ethnic group in the area since at least the Neolithic and an Indian influenced civilization with origins near 2000 years old. Centered on the lower Mekong and tributaries the Khmer people have dominated the region for millennia. From 2nd century AD Khmer kingdoms rose and fell, culminating in unification and the 500 year reign of the Angkorian Empire, the builders of the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap. The Empire stretched from Burma to the ocean. But by the 1400s Cambodia fell to centuries of change and decline squeezed between the expanding Siam and Vietnam. Colonized and by the French in the 1860s, independence 90 years later in 1954, a brief post-colonial 'golden period' under Sihanouk, coup in 70, civil war, fall to the communist Khmer Rouge in 75, 3 years 8 months 20 days of madness, Vietnamese rescue in 1979, occupation, low level war and international sanctions in the 80s, the UN, ostensive democracy and an adventure party destination in the 90s and now mainstreaming, tourism, rapid development, rapacious capitalism and NGOs, missionaries and other international busybodies aplenty.

Southeast Asia

As the term implies, Southeast Asia encompasses the southeastern corner of the Asian continent, loosely speaking, the area between India, China and Australia. It is made up of two distinct regions: the mainland zone, a bulbous peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean, bounded by China to the north and India to the west; and the insular (island) zone in the Pacific Ocean. The name 'Southeast Asia' is a comparatively recent invention, first coming into use into the 20th century and still a bit indefinite in definition. Mainland Southeast Asia is generally considered to include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and peninsular Malaysia. The mainland is sometimes referred to as Indo-China though Indochina (Indochine) also designates the 19th/20th century French colonial conglomerate of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Sitting south of the Tropic of Cancer, most of mainland Southeast Asia lies in the hot, humid tropics and sub-tropics with a climate dominated by a monsoon cycle which divides the year into two distinct seasons: a dry season and an extremely wet monsoon season. Much of the mainland is mountainous and thickly jungled, with large river systems and wide, low-lying, flood-prone plains, much of which is, in modern times, deforested and blanketed with geometrical rice paddies. Several major river valleys including the Mekong River, the Red, Ma and Ka rivers and the group of rivers draining to the Chao Praya Delta played host to the rise of early civilization in the area. The Mekong River is one of the world's greatest rivers, the seventh largest on the planet, and since pre-history has been closely associated with the land of the Khmer.