Deadly storms ravage Asia, killing over 700 with hundreds missing

By Laura Sharman, CNN

(CNN) — Heavy rainfall has unleashed widespread flooding and landslides across Asia, killing more than 700 people with hundreds still missing.

Cyclone-fueled downpours battered parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia this week when a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait – a narrow waterway separating the Indonesian island of Sumatra from the other two nations.

Sri Lanka was struck by a separate storm from which heavy rains are now approaching India’s southern coast.

The severe weather has claimed the lives of at least 435 people in Indonesia, 153 in Sri Lanka, 162 in Thailand and two in Malaysia, officials told the Reuters news agency.

In Indonesia

Indonesian rescue teams are struggling to reach the hardest-hit areas of Sumatra, where Cyclone Senyar caused catastrophic landslides and flooding.

At least 435 people have died, government data on Sunday showed, an increase from 303 on Saturday. A further 406 people are reported still missing.

Video footage shows helicopters delivering supplies to the island, renowned for lush rainforests, active volcanoes and a critically endangered orangutan population.

“During the flood, everything was gone,” a resident of Bireuen, in Sumatra’s northernmost province Aceh, told Reuters.

“I wanted to save my clothes, but my house came down.”

Maulidin, a 41-year-old resident of North Aceh, fled her home with her family when she woke to the sound of flooding.

“My house is already destroyed, all my belongings are ruined, and mud is inside,” she told AFP.

Rescuers have been trying to reach residents stranded by the floodwaters since Tuesday when monsoon rains caused rivers to overflow in North Sumatra province.

Local media footage shows people using rubber boats to evacuate those trapped.

On the flood-hit Indonesian island of Sumatra, some residents have turned to stealing food and water in order to survive, according to authorities there.

“The looting happened before logistical aid arrived,” police spokesperson Ferry Walintukan said, according to AP. “(Residents) didn’t know that aid would come and were worried they would starve.”

In Thailand

Across the strait, at least 162 people have died due to the extreme weather in southern Thailand, government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat told Reuters on Saturday.

Some 3.5 million people have been affected, with authorities airlifting patients and flying critical supplies, including oxygen tanks, to submerged communities, the outlet said.

Amphorn Kaeophengkro and her family of eight had no time to escape when floodwaters swept into their home in Hat Yai city last Saturday.

Instead, they rushed to the second floor as water levels swelled, eventually spending 48 hours perched atop a table, washing machine and on a window frame.

“We weren’t thinking about anything else except surviving,” the 44-year-old told Reuters by candlelight, as her family began to clean their dwelling after the water had receded.

“Sometimes we sat at the edge of the window and had to lift our legs to avoid keeping them too deep in the water.”

Hat Yai city was Thailand’s hardest-hit region, recording the type of heavy rain the occurs once-in-300-years, bringing floodwaters more than eight feet high on Tuesday and cutting off access to a maternity ward holding 30 newborn babies, staff and officials said.

It is not yet clear when power will be restored to the area where agencies have provided evacuations, medical support and essential supplies.

The city is part of Thailand’s Songkhla region, where the government declared an emergency on Tuesday due to severe flooding, an official said on X.

Ten tourists, from Australia, Britain, China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa, were rescued in Songkhla province on Friday, the Ministry of Tourism told CNN.

“The situation has improved significantly. Water levels have almost completely receded, with only some areas remaining flooded,” a spokesperson said.

In Sri Lanka

More than half a million people felt the wrath of Cyclone Ditwah, which triggered mud slides and flooding on Friday, Reuters said.

Over 25,000 homes have been destroyed and 147,000 people have been forced into state-run temporary shelters, AP reported.

Mallika Kumari was among more than 78,000 people moved to relief centers, mostly set up in schools, after her home was quickly submerged, according to the news agency.

“I first heard about the flood warning on TV but we never expected the river to overflow so quickly. We just rushed out of the house without anything,” Kumari told reporters.

“We haven’t even had breakfast. Two of my sons have caught the flu. I have to get them medication. I’ve brought a few garbage bags to collect their clothes.”

In the rush, Kumari left behind her cat, which was later picked up by a navy boat and brought to dry land.

Some 191 people remain missing in Sri Lanka and most homes in low-lying areas near the capital, Colombo, are under water and without power, authorities told Reuters.

Some residents chose to stay on the upper floors of partially submerged homes to protect their belongings, the outlet said.

Selvi, a 46-year-old resident of Colombo’s Wennawatte suburb, fled her home with four bags of clothes and other possessions. “My house is completely flooded. I don’t know where to go, but I hope there is some safe shelter where I can take my family,” she told AFP.

At the Dalugala Thakiya Mosque, volunteers prepared rice parcels with chicken and dhal curry for flood victims.

“We are getting more requests for food because people who work daily jobs cannot find work and are running low on savings,” meal organizer Risham Ahmed told Reuters.

“They are worried about how to piece their lives back together.”

In Malaysia

In Malaysia, two people were confirmed dead after Senyar, then a tropical storm, made landfall shortly after midnight on Friday, Reuters said.

Around 34,000 people were evacuated ahead of the storm, but Gon Qasim and her husband were less fortunate, stranded in a field in northern Perlis state last weekend when rising floodwaters cut off their escape.

The elderly couple were eventually rescued by one of their children and brought to an evacuation center in the state capital of Kangar, where hundreds of families sheltered in tents provided by the national disaster management agency, Reuters reported.

“I was inside, and I couldn’t go out. When I was out, there was nowhere to stay but the field,” the 73-year-old Gon said told its reporters, recalling her ordeal in an interview on Wednesday.

“The water was like the ocean. That’s what it looked like.”

Climate change

Southeast Asia, which includes Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, is one of the areas most vulnerable to climate change, scientists have warned.

Current extremes of weather in the region could stem from the interaction of two active systems, Typhoon Koto in the Philippines and the unusual formation of Cyclone Senyar in the Malacca Strait, meteorologists told Reuters.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia this month, deadly floods devastated parts of Vietnam, where flooding and landslides killed dozens of people.

Also in the region this month, the Philippines endured two deadly typhoons – Kalmaegi and Fung-wong – in a week, which killed hundreds of people and forced more than 1.4 million to evacuate.

This summer, the region also saw temperatures reach unprecedented levels, with little respite from merciless heat and humidity, climatologist Maximiliano Herrera told CNN.

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