PHNOM PENH, Oct 3 ― Mekong river flooding and heavy rainfall have claimed at least 39 lives and affected more than 100,000 families in Cambodia in less than three weeks, the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) said Thursday.

About 10,000 families were forced to flee their homes as some 89,200 houses, 533 schools and 291 Buddhist pagodas have been submerged, Xinhua news agency reports the NCDM as saying.

 About 100,000 hectares of rice seedlings are also inundated, the report said. Thirteen out of the kingdom’s 24 cities and provinces are being hit by Mekong flash floods.

Disaster control officials could not be reached for comments on Thursday. Last Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered authorities to monitor the flood situation and prepare to evacuate affected residents to safe grounds.

The country has suffered from the impact of low pressure system and tropical storm Wutip that had caused heavy rainfall in the Mekong River basin and in Cambodia.

Floods usually hit Cambodia between August and October. ― Bernama