The hunt to make excessive climate warnings common : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F52%2Fe6%2F2f2a50df4413b225bddcb5a5e8da%2F359a9434.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F52%2Fe6%2F2f2a50df4413b225bddcb5a5e8da%2F359a9434.jpg" class="img" alt="Two children stand on top of an overturned boat along a bank of the Mekong Delta." fetchpriority="high"/> Individuals in poor international locations usually get little or no warning about floods, storms and different lethal climate. Native efforts are altering that, and saving lives. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR In November 2025, an enormous storm rolled throughout the decrease Mekong River delta, dumping a number of inches of rain onto the extensive, flat river plain that covers a lot of Cambodia.

The river rose and rose. The pressure of the water churned up mud from the river backside. The muddy water flowed downstream and rushed into the various farming and fishing cities that line the Mekong's banks.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F98%2F80cfaf5c4d59b6ac1b3dcdb64cd6%2Fdsc9013.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F98%2F80cfaf5c4d59b6ac1b3dcdb64cd6%2Fdsc9013.jpg" class="img" alt="A fishing boat passes under a bridge that spans the Mekong River in Cambodia." loading="lazy"/> The large Mekong River is the spine of Cambodia's economic system, replenishing agricultural fields with nutrient-rich soil and supporting fisheries all through the nation. However annual river flooding is getting extra extreme. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Forty-six-year-old Chhum Chhin skilled the flood firsthand. "The water was in all places," she defined, standing within the shade of her dwelling, which is elevated above potential floodwaters on 12-foot-tall concrete pillars within the central Cambodian village of Roka Thom.

Chhum has lived alongside the Mekong her complete life. Final 12 months, she says, the water was greater than she had ever seen it. It washed away crops and left a thick layer of mud on every part in its path: autos, buildings and fields.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F13%2Fec%2F1f25faef4e9e919989fc8fd191d5%2F359a9606.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F13%2Fec%2F1f25faef4e9e919989fc8fd191d5%2F359a9606.jpg" class="img" alt="Forty-six-year-old Chhum Chhin weaves a basket in the shade of her home, which is on stilts." loading="lazy"/> Forty-six-year-old Chhum Chhin has lived alongside the Mekong her complete life. Final 12 months, she says, the water was greater than she had ever seen it. It washed away crops and left a thick layer of mud on every part in its path: autos, buildings and fields. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR However the harm from the flood might have been a lot worse. When the water arrived, Chhum and all her neighbors have been gone, together with their cows and chickens. There have been no fatalities in her neighborhood. And when the water receded, residents went again to regular life virtually instantly.

"The issues we do right here throughout a flood, they save lives," says Vy Sievmeng, the officer in cost for the catastrophe administration committee in Cambodia's Tbong Khmum province, which is among the most flood-prone areas within the nation. "Up to now, lots of people died and numerous livestock drowned when there have been massive floods," he says, however that not occurs.

Cambodia's nascent success makes the nation an outlier amongst its friends. Solely about half the world's least developed and small island nations have functioning warning programs, based on a 2025 United Nations report, and the mortality price from disasters is six instances greater in international locations with out sturdy weather-warning programs.

As local weather change causes extra excessive and harmful climate, from lethal warmth waves to record-breaking hurricanes and flash floods, a rising consortium of U.N. businesses, governments and philanthropic teams is racing to make climate warnings out there to everybody on the planet. And they're counting on native information to make the warnings efficient.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd3%2F62%2F706d60194d0e836abfcb424d99ff%2F359a9575.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd3%2F62%2F706d60194d0e836abfcb424d99ff%2F359a9575.jpg" class="img" alt="Chhay Sophal cleans up his small plot of land after losing his crop to flooding in the fall of 2025." loading="lazy"/> Greater than half of Cambodia's inhabitants works in agriculture. More and more extreme floods wash away seeds and crops. Right here, 58-year-old Chhay Sophal cleans up his small plot of land after dropping his crop to flooding within the fall of 2025. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x995+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2F77%2F34bbe4d748a09f3f9d96a2247d81%2Fcowdip.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x995+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2F77%2F34bbe4d748a09f3f9d96a2247d81%2Fcowdip.jpg" class="img" alt="In the photo on the left, 19-year-old Hoeung Thida descends the outside steps of her house, which is on stilts. The photo on the right shows two heads of livestock that belong to her family." loading="lazy"/> Flooding is a traditional a part of life in Cambodia within the late summer time and fall months, when monsoon rains trigger the Mekong River to rise repeatedly. Many homes are on stilts to maintain the dwelling quarters dry in all however essentially the most extreme floods. Nineteen-year-old Hoeung Thida lives along with her grandmother and great-uncle. The household evacuated with its livestock throughout a very dangerous flood in November 2025. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Cambodia's progress in defending its residents provides classes for different components of the world in regards to the profound lifesaving energy of easy, low-tech climate warnings, significantly in locations the place there's already sturdy native dedication to defending residents. It additionally highlights the various challenges of saving lives and livelihoods because the Earth heats up.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6b%2F7a%2Fb255d7a54bd6b19d9b579090a3ca%2Fgettyimages-182580228.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6b%2F7a%2Fb255d7a54bd6b19d9b579090a3ca%2Fgettyimages-182580228.jpg" class="img" alt="A flooded restaurant near the Mekong River is submerged in water up to its roof after the Mekong River broke its banks on October 1, 2013, in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia." loading="lazy"/> Floods have traditionally killed a whole bunch of individuals every monsoon season in Cambodia. Early warning efforts have made floods much less lethal in recent times. Right here, a constructing close to town of Kampong Cham is submerged by floodwaters in 2013. Nicolas Axelrod/Getty Photos disguise caption

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Nicolas Axelrod/Getty Photos A lethal downside Cambodia's annual floods carry nutrient-rich mud into the rice and vegetable fields which might be the spine of the nation's meals provide and economic system. Seeds planted in that mud can develop extremely shortly.

However the floods will also be lethal, routinely taking a whole bunch of lives. And flood threat is barely rising within the area, as local weather change makes Southeast Asian monsoons extra excessive and fewer predictable. Intervals of unseasonable drought are adopted by torrential rain that results in huge floods.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F60%2Fbb%2F0e0e458b4a6da645f3e57707b41f%2Fdsc9138.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F60%2Fbb%2F0e0e458b4a6da645f3e57707b41f%2Fdsc9138.jpg" class="img" alt="Fishermen use nets to catch fish in Cambodia’s Pursat River." loading="lazy"/> Fishermen use nets to catch fish in central Cambodia's Pursat River. Latest flooding of the river has disrupted life and destroyed crops. However climate warnings have allowed residents to evacuate or search excessive floor earlier than the water arrives. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Simply final 12 months, widespread floods killed a whole bunch of individuals in 5 international locations throughout Southeast Asia. In 2022, floods killed greater than 1,000 individuals in Pakistan and displaced hundreds of thousands extra.

One motive for the excessive dying tolls in such disasters is a scarcity of primary weather-warning programs.

"Early warnings usually are not an abstraction," stated U.N. Secretary-Normal António Guterres in a speech final 12 months. "They provide farmers the ability to guard their crops and livestock, allow households to evacuate safely and defend whole communities from devastation."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F63%2Ffea2bf774cac9c44a456e0a9eba2%2F359a7632.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F63%2Ffea2bf774cac9c44a456e0a9eba2%2F359a7632.jpg" class="img" alt="Holding a paddle in one hand, a woman sits in a small wooden boat filled with goods." loading="lazy"/> Cambodia is among the most flood-prone international locations on this planet, with each the Mekong River and the large Tonle Sap lake. Forty-year-old Douch Bopha lives in a floating village on the sting of the lake and sells meals every day to native fishermen. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR The residents of rich international locations typically get warnings earlier than excessive climate arrives. In the US, the Nationwide Climate Service points official warnings that set off alerts on radio, tv and cellphones.

In consequence, the U.S. has a number of the lowest per capita fatality charges from climate on this planet, regardless of widespread publicity to warmth waves, hurricanes, wildfires and different excessive occasions, based on an annual local weather threat evaluation sponsored by the German authorities.

"We take that without any consideration in some locations," says Jason Watkins of the World Meteorological Group, which is a part of the United Nations.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F03%2Fa9%2Fa3cd358348efb407f9eac454d19e%2F359a9706.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F03%2Fa9%2Fa3cd358348efb407f9eac454d19e%2F359a9706.jpg" class="img" alt="Commuters drive through the Cambodian city of Kampong Cham, next to the Mekong River, as the sun sets." loading="lazy"/> Commuters drive by means of the Cambodian metropolis of Kampong Cham, subsequent to the Mekong River, because the solar units. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR The hunt to warn everybody, in all places In 2022, the U.N. got down to repair the worldwide weather-warning downside. Guterres set a purpose of extending severe-weather warnings to each particular person on Earth by 2027, with a $3.1 billion price ticket.

The company isn't on monitor to satisfy that purpose, and in 2024 Guterres famous that the least developed international locations have been nonetheless "lagging behind."

However cash has been flowing nonetheless. Up to now, the U.N.'s Inexperienced Local weather Fund has spent greater than $2 billion on early warning programs world wide, and different main contributors — the Asian Improvement Financial institution and the World Financial institution — collectively have spent about $2.5 billion on such tasks.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2a%2F93%2F3e9b941a40c99470690b79ba7357%2F359a9546.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2a%2F93%2F3e9b941a40c99470690b79ba7357%2F359a9546.jpg" class="img" alt="Children walk past a building on a road contrasted in sun and shadow in the fishing village of Prek Touch, Cambodia." loading="lazy"/> The fishing village of Prek Contact, Cambodia, acquired assist from the United Nations and worldwide nonprofit teams to improve flood warnings and assist native efforts to assist individuals evacuate earlier than water arrives. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR America has traditionally been a significant contributor to the Inexperienced Local weather Fund, however in January, the Trump administration stated the U.S. would not take part within the fund. That can deprive the fund of billions of {dollars} in contributions however will not in any other case have an effect on its operations, based on the United Nations. The U.S. has additionally formally pulled out of the landmark Paris local weather settlement.

A portion of the worldwide funding that has already been collected for early warning programs went to Cambodia, which is among the many most flood-prone international locations on this planet. Between 2023 and 2025, U.N.-affiliated businesses spent $5.5 million upgrading the nation's flood forecasts and warnings, and a further $7.8 million will likely be spent within the coming years.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fef%2Fee%2Fb3d1d6864f1ab2cb1053ea9f22dc%2Fdsc8911.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fef%2Fee%2Fb3d1d6864f1ab2cb1053ea9f22dc%2Fdsc8911.jpg" class="img" alt="Vy Sievmeng, the officer in charge for the disaster management committee in Cambodia’s Tbong Khmum province, sits on a chair outside a building." loading="lazy"/> Vy Sievmeng is the officer in cost for the catastrophe administration committee in Cambodia's Tbong Khmum province. "The issues we do right here throughout a flood, they save lives," he says. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Representatives from Cambodia's catastrophe administration, meteorology and hydrology businesses declined to be interviewed, saying they have been too busy managing crises associated to the continuing battle between Cambodia and neighboring Thailand. Nonetheless, at a 2021 occasion launching the U.N.'s work in Cambodia, Cambodian officers welcomed worldwide funding within the nation's flood-warning programs. "Fast motion is required to handle flood dangers, so worldwide cooperation is essential," stated Soim Monichoth, who helps lead Cambodia's Ministry of Water Sources and Meteorology, based on a World Meteorological Group account of the occasion.

"There actually has been progress over the previous few years," says the World Meteorological Group's Watkins, who leads the United Nations' work in Cambodia. Residents who used to get little or no warning about floods now get flood forecasts as much as 5 days prematurely, due to upgrades to weather-forecasting laptop fashions and the satellite tv for pc knowledge that they depend on, he explains.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x995+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2F55%2Fa313bbb84d468214d553f9da862d%2Fvillage2.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x995+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2F55%2Fa313bbb84d468214d553f9da862d%2Fvillage2.jpg" class="img" alt="In the photo on the left, patrons gather at an outdoor café with red plastic chairs arranged underneath an awning supported by poles. In the photo on the right, three girls walk from school." loading="lazy"/> Within the late afternoon, patrons collect at a café and kids stroll from college in a small village alongside the Mekong River. Residents who used to get little or no warning about floods now get flood forecasts as much as 5 days prematurely, due to upgrades to weather-forecasting laptop fashions and satellite tv for pc knowledge. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2F1e%2Fcc43cb3a4cc88e12e21e61a28907%2F359a9701.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa7%2F1e%2Fcc43cb3a4cc88e12e21e61a28907%2F359a9701.jpg" class="img" alt="A boy stands on a dirt path with his back to the camera. The path cuts through a grassy area with lush green foliage at its edges." loading="lazy"/> The U.N. and native leaders in Cambodia are significantly centered on getting climate warnings to weak teams, together with these with younger youngsters. Floods are significantly dangerous for younger individuals, who will be swept away by swift-moving floodwaters. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR And with U.N. assist, native leaders in three communities reworked evacuation plans to higher defend essentially the most weak individuals, together with those that dwell in low-lying areas and people who are aged or have babies. That effort is meant to increase throughout the nation within the subsequent three to 4 years.

The U.N.-backed program additionally tapped into long-held neighborhood information. This system funded native conferences with residents the place neighborhood members talked about which areas have been most flood-prone, since longtime residents usually have essentially the most granular and helpful details about how water strikes throughout the panorama.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2F61%2F708396674372b371300ed9798dd8%2Fdsc8976.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2F61%2F708396674372b371300ed9798dd8%2Fdsc8976.jpg" class="img" alt="A man stands at the top of a steep bank of the Mekong River near Roka Thom village in central Cambodia." loading="lazy"/> A person stands on the high of a steep financial institution of the Mekong River close to Roka Thom village in central Cambodia. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR "We all know which areas have essentially the most extreme flooding," says Chan Chomroeun of the Pursat Provincial Committee for Catastrophe Administration in central Cambodia, which oversees a particularly flood-prone pilot space close to the nation's huge Tonle Sap lake.

Watkins says that native experience is essential. "Individuals are very a lot in tune with the land — they depend on the land for his or her livelihoods," explains Watkins. He sees the U.N. funding as a assist system for the work that native individuals are already doing, versus a top-down resolution.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F73%2F08da0cc3415fbe45eea94f8ca115%2Fdsc8942.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2001+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F73%2F08da0cc3415fbe45eea94f8ca115%2Fdsc8942.jpg" class="img" alt="A flood warning sign in Cambodia’s Tbong Khmum province. Metal slots on the blue sign allow local officials to display water height forecasts for local residents." loading="lazy"/> A flood warning register Cambodia's Tbong Khmum province. Metallic slots on the signal permit native officers to show water top forecasts for native residents. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR The facility of a voicemail One of many areas that acquired U.N. assist is the fishing village of Prek Contact, on the banks of the Mekong River north of the capital. Lengthy picket boats line the water. Girls clear the day's catch as males restore their nets.

Floods are a traditional a part of life within the late summer time and fall months, when monsoon rains trigger the river to rise repeatedly. The homes are on tall stilts, and normally the dwelling quarters keep dry even when the water is at its highest. Most households have lived there for a number of generations.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbd%2Feb%2F6cf8daec46abbe9fa025ebba48e8%2F359a9377.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbd%2Feb%2F6cf8daec46abbe9fa025ebba48e8%2F359a9377.jpg" class="img" alt="Fish sellers Kly Phally (left), Sen Srod and Karey Sa Vai (right) sit outside their homes with other women in the Cambodian village of Prek Touch." loading="lazy"/> Fish sellers Kly Phally (left), Sen Srod and Karey Sa Vai (proper) sit outdoors their properties within the Cambodian village of Prek Contact. Water was 10 toes excessive on this space throughout a flood in November 2025. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR For many years, floods killed individuals within the village every year. Youngsters have been significantly more likely to drown, says 49-year-old Kly Phally, who has 4 youngsters. "We tried to maintain them from taking part in close to the water through the floods," she explains. However residents did not at all times know when the water would rise or how excessive it will get. They usually had nowhere to evacuate to, so most households simply stayed of their properties and waited out the water.

That started to alter about 10 years in the past. Between 2013 and 2015, the native authorities opened an evacuation shelter — a compound with area for livestock in addition to individuals — on greater floor close by, and it launched a brand new weather-warning system with the assistance of the European nonprofit Individuals in Want. Residents with cellphones might join climate alerts, which got here as voicemails and textual content messages on the favored communication app Telegram.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F37%2F45%2F328134f549ba83efdbc3f5b47ee6%2F359a9459.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F37%2F45%2F328134f549ba83efdbc3f5b47ee6%2F359a9459.jpg" class="img" alt="Children play in the Mekong River near the city of Kampong Cham." loading="lazy"/> Youngsters play within the Mekong River close to town of Kampong Cham. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F46%2F80%2F58dcd9eb406eb243e6ef966d309c%2F359a9509-2.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F46%2F80%2F58dcd9eb406eb243e6ef966d309c%2F359a9509-2.jpg" class="img" alt="Children walk up a bank of the Mekong River after playing in the water." loading="lazy"/> Flood warnings are disseminated in Cambodia through voicemails on cellphones. For many who do not have telephones, together with aged individuals and kids, native officers hook up their telephones to automotive audio system and drive by means of city broadcasting the warnings at excessive quantity. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR However not everybody has a cellphone. As a part of the U.N. initiative in the previous few years, native leaders have been inspired to search out methods to warn weak residents — together with aged individuals, these with babies and others who would possibly need assistance evacuating — when a flood is coming.

The answer they got here up with was easy. When a flood is coming, native officers in Prek Contact and one other village that acquired U.N. assist hook up their telephones to their automotive audio system and drive by means of city broadcasting the warnings at excessive quantity, so individuals who do not have cellphones can hear the small print of the warning firsthand.

The alerts now finish with this request: "When you obtain this message, please inform your mates, colleagues, all relations and people in want in your neighborhood."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb6%2F44%2Ffad2b2b0402bb437a051cb9eea77%2F359a0170.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb6%2F44%2Ffad2b2b0402bb437a051cb9eea77%2F359a0170.jpg" class="img" alt="Nun Phallin sells eggs by the side of a road that runs along the Pursat River." loading="lazy"/> Extreme floods within the fall of 2025 destroyed Nun Phallin's rice crops, making her extra reliant on promoting eggs within the close by metropolis of Pursat to assist complement her revenue. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR A life-or-death take a look at Years of efforts have been put to the take a look at in 2025, when a number of the worst flooding in reminiscence swept throughout Cambodia.

As torrential rains fell throughout the area in early November, a cellphone alert went out, warning residents in Prek Contact {that a} flood would happen the following day, and telling them to evacuate.

"They used the loudspeaker to inform everybody," says 82-year-old Ker Sman, who has lived within the village his complete life and says he's its oldest resident. Though he has a cellphone, he says he didn't obtain a flood alert on it.

After he heard the loudspeaker warning, Ker was uncertain what to do. He put his belongings in his dwelling and regarded sheltering there, as he had previously, though he was nervous that his dwelling won't survive if the water rose too excessive. When he noticed that everybody else was evacuating, he determined to do the identical. A neighbor gave him and his spouse a trip to the shelter.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Feb%2Fbc3a04e34b0bb182cd728bf3e775%2F359a9380.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7b%2Feb%2Fbc3a04e34b0bb182cd728bf3e775%2F359a9380.jpg" class="img" alt="Ker Sman, 82 and his wife, Chhres Yas, 65, sit outside their home in the Cambodian village of Prek Touch." loading="lazy"/> Neighbors helped 82-year-old Ker Sman and his spouse, Chhres Yas, 65, evacuate earlier than harmful floods hit their space in November 2025. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Each family did the identical, residents say. "After we heard the alert, we put every part in the home, locked the door after which took the kids and the cattle to the shelter," remembers Kly, the mom of 4. "We have been secure there."

It ended up being the precise determination. "The water flowed very quick," remembers Kly, pointing throughout the highway on the 20-foot concrete pillars holding up her neighbor's dwelling. About 15 toes off the bottom is a smudged line of mud: the high-water mark. Nobody would stand an opportunity in such a torrent.

The whole village camped out on the native evacuation shelter for a couple of days, together with their cows and chickens. After the water receded, life went again to regular inside a few weeks, Kly says. There was one fatality, based on residents: a younger youngster whose household lives on a ship and so wasn't capable of evacuate.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4e%2F1f%2Ff52eaaa443a1851044ee9f4c8ccd%2F359a9466.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4e%2F1f%2Ff52eaaa443a1851044ee9f4c8ccd%2F359a9466.jpg" class="img" alt="Docks, boats and a building sit smashed on a bank of the Mekong River due to flooding near the city of Kampong Cham, Cambodia, in 2025." loading="lazy"/> Docks, boats and a constructing have been all smashed by flooding close to town of Kampong Cham in 2025. Most native residents evacuated earlier than the water arrived. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Saving lives, dropping livelihoods Cambodia's successes are nonetheless comparatively small scale, says the World Meteorological Group's Watkins. In late 2025, Cambodia's authorities formally endorsed U.N. efforts to increase climate warnings throughout the nation and provides residents much more time to evacuate earlier than floodwaters attain them.

However saving lives is simply step one, residents say. In interviews with practically two dozen individuals in two of essentially the most flood-prone provinces within the nation, the identical theme emerged again and again: Cambodians are surviving floods solely to return to ruined fields.

"The water washed away all my seeds," stated 58-year-old Chhay Sophal, as he raked sticks off his empty plot in December. He would not personal very a lot land. Shedding one harvest means he has nothing to promote for months, he defined. Greater than half of Cambodians are immediately concerned in agriculture, based on a survey performed final 12 months by the United Nations.

It is a reminder that floods will be economically devastating, even when they're not lethal.

"What would assist? We want levees, dams and retention ponds, so we are able to management the water higher," says Vy, the catastrophe official in Tbong Khmum province, which incorporates the world the place Chhay farms. "If we might accumulate the water throughout floods, we might use it to irrigate the fields when the climate is dry."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2F11%2F36d968534986bd2339e84c99520c%2F359a9867.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2F11%2F36d968534986bd2339e84c99520c%2F359a9867.jpg" class="img" alt="A man squatting on the ground looks over a rice field in Koh village, in Cambodia’s Anloung Sor district." loading="lazy"/> A person seems over a rice subject in Koh village, in Cambodia's Anloung Sor district. In interviews with practically two dozen individuals in two of essentially the most flood-prone provinces within the nation, the identical theme emerged again and again: Cambodians are surviving floods solely to return to ruined fields. Ryan Kellman/NPR disguise caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR Higher climate forecasts might additionally assist. In lots of rich international locations, the federal government offers seasonal climate forecasts, which can assist farmers make selections about which seeds to plant and the place and when to plant them. Such forecasts require refined knowledge evaluation.