Torrential rains have unleashed widespread flooding and landslides across parts of southern Asia, resulting in a reported death toll of approximately 600 individuals.
Monsoon rains, intensified by tropical storms, have triggered some of the region’s most severe flooding in recent years, impacting millions of people across Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.
The intense rainfall commenced on Wednesday on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. “During the flood, everything was gone,” a resident of Bireuen in Sumatra’s Aceh province told Reuters. “I wanted to save my clothes, but my house came down.”
With hundreds still missing, authorities anticipate that the death toll is likely to increase. Thousands remain stranded, with some awaiting rescue from rooftops.
As of Saturday, reports indicated that more than 300 people had died in Indonesia and 160 in Thailand. Fatalities have also been reported in Malaysia.
In Sri Lanka, which has been affected by Cyclone Ditwah, officials report over 130 deaths and approximately 170 individuals missing.
An exceptionally rare tropical cyclone, named Cyclone Senyar, caused catastrophic landslides and flooding in Indonesia, sweeping away homes and submerging thousands of buildings.
Indonesia’s disaster agency stated on Saturday that nearly 300 people remain missing following the devastating floods in Sumatra.
“The current was very fast, in a matter of seconds it reached the streets, entered the houses,” Arini Amalia, a resident in Aceh Province, told the BBC.
She and her grandmother sought refuge at a relative’s house on higher ground. Upon returning the following day to retrieve belongings, she found that the flood had completely engulfed her house: “It’s already sunk.”
Meri Osman recounted being “swept away by the current” and rescued after clinging to a clothesline when rapidly rising waters submerged his home in West Sumatra.
The adverse weather conditions have hampered rescue operations. While tens of thousands have been evacuated, hundreds remain stranded, according to the Indonesian disaster agency.
In Thailand’s southern Songkhla province, floodwaters rose to 3m (10ft), and officials reported at least 145 deaths in what they describe as one of the worst floods in a decade.
Across the 10 provinces affected by the flooding, the government reported over 160 fatalities as of Saturday, with more than 3.8 million people impacted.
The city of Hat Yai experienced 335mm of rainfall in a single day, marking the heaviest rainfall in 300 years. As floodwaters receded, officials documented a sharp increase in the death toll.
According to AFP, employees at one hospital in Hat Yai were compelled to move bodies to refrigerated trucks after the morgue reached capacity.
“We were stuck in the water for seven days and no agency came to help,” Thanita Khiawhom, a resident of Hat Yai, told BBC Thai.
The government has pledged relief measures, including compensation of up to two million baht ($62,000) for households that have lost family members.
In neighboring Malaysia, the reported death toll is lower, but the devastation is significant.
Flooding has caused widespread disruption, leaving parts of northern Perlis state submerged. Reports indicate two fatalities and tens of thousands displaced and forced into shelters.
Sri Lanka is also contending with one of its most severe weather-related disasters in recent years, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.
Officials report that over 15,000 homes have been destroyed and approximately 78,000 people have been displaced and are residing in temporary shelters. They added that approximately one-third of the country is without electricity or running water.
Meteorologists suggest that the extreme weather in South East Asia may be attributed to the interaction between Typhoon Koto in the Philippines and the rare formation of Cyclone Senyar in the Malacca Strait.
The region’s annual monsoon season, typically spanning from June to September, commonly brings heavy rainfall.
Climate change has altered storm patterns, influencing the intensity and duration of the season. This has resulted in more intense rainfall, flash flooding, and stronger winds.
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