As monsoon rains have struck the Mekong region recently, some countries have been hit hard by flooding. These disasters reflect the fact that the region's development projects have not fully recognised climate change impacts and so lack plans to deal with them.
An unexpected climate pattern -- unusually high rainfall -- is linked to the July 23 failure of an auxiliary dam of the Xe Pien-Xe Namnoy hydropower project in Attapeu province in southeastern Laos.
Floodwaters from the broken dam submerged six entire villages downstream, killing at least 31 people and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. The floodwaters then moved further to Cambodia's northern region, forcing the evacuation of thousands of other people who did not receive any early warnings.
