Floods in Phnom Penh 15 August 2008 This is the rainy season and rain is expected every day, but the last three days have seen torrential downpours in the evening, starting about 5:00 PM.  Our part of town is notorious for flooding along Street 63, a major thoroughfare. These are pictures taken yesterday when I was coming home from work, at an intersection near the Boeung Keng Kong Market.

Sometimes you wonder how the motorcycles especially can keep going in the high water. And then sometimes you see that they can't, like these two. These two people seem to be adjusting well to the rain and flooding. Cambodians are used to getting wet in the rainy season. It's just part of life. One danger, though, is stepping into uncovered sewer holes--a common sight in the dry season--when they are under water. Another threat from the flood waters is the danger of disease. Where there are sewers in Phnom Penh, they are both storm sewers and sanitary sewers together so when they overflow or back up like this, you can imagine what is in the water.

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