At least five people were killed and some 15,510 families have been affected by flash floods that have been hitting the country's Banteay Meanchey province since earlier this month, the latest report of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) showed Tuesday.

Some 14,300 houses have been inundated and 29,120 hectares of rice seedlings and 2,000 hectares of cassava have been submerged, the report said.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony at the National University of Management on Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said that more than 5,000 families have been evacuated to higher grounds.

"Besides heavy rains, the province is suffering from the floods flowing from Thailand,"he said, adding that Cambodian Red Cross, the NCDM and local authorities have been working together to rescue and provide emergency reliefs to those affected.

The premier appealed to people to continue to be vigilant over more serious flash floods as a low pressure system was still impacting the country.

Keo Vy, chief of the NCDM's cabinet, said that so far, the Cambodian Red Cross and charitable organizations have distributed emergency reliefs to more than 2,400 families in the province.

Floods usually hit Cambodia between August and October. Last year, the floods killed at least 250 Cambodian people and affected some 1.4 million others in the country, according to the NCDM.

Moreover, nearly 3,000 kilometers of gravel roads and some 180 kilometers of national roads had been damaged.

Last year's floods cost the country about $521 million.