Hundreds are dead and missing across Southeast Asia after tropical cyclones caused heavy flooding and landslides in the region.
The death toll from floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra rose to 303, the head of the country’s disaster management agency said in a news conference Saturday. The cyclone, named Senyar, swept through the region Tuesday after devastating northern Malaysia and southern Thailand, leaving at least 279 people missing on the Indonesian regions of North Sumatra, Aceh and West Sumatra, officials said.
Heavy flooding associated with Senyar left 162 people dead in southern Thailand as of Saturday, the country’s Flood Emergency Operations Center said. Extreme weather caused by the storm also prompted evacuations in Malaysia and the Philippines.
In Sri Lanka, flooding and landslides caused by a separate cyclone, Ditwah, left 193 people dead and 228 more missing, local media reported, citing the country’s Disaster Management Center.
Photos and videos showed Indonesian responders wading through thick rainforest and mud and carrying the injured away after mountainside villages were submerged in water.
Mud and landslide debris blocked roads, aerial footage showed, making it harder for responders to travel. They also downed communications infrastructure, leaving villagers stranded without aid, disaster management officials said this weekend, according to Reuters. Officials said the military would send more troops Sunday to help with relief efforts.
The city of Hat Yai in Thailand’s Songkhla province, near the Malaysian border, experienced 13 inches of rain on Friday — the heaviest in a single day in 300 years, according to local media, citing regional irrigation officials. The city’s Mahattamangkalaram Temple, known for its 115-foot Buddha statue, was submerged under 16 feet of water, according to the deputy abbot of the temple, Phra Khru Pawanakanlayanakun. Video showed monks clearing mud and debris on Saturday after a week of flooding.
In Sri Lanka, nearly a million people have been affected by Cyclone Ditwah, which is expected to move north and away from the island country in the coming days, officials said. Photos and videos showed Sri Lankan air force personnel rescuing stranded residents from rooftops in Kurunegala, after floodwaters submerged homes and roads.
A separate tropical storm, Koto, is expected to hit western Vietnam. As of Sunday, the storm’s center was in the central East Sea and projected to head toward the country’s coast while gradually weakening, Vietnam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.
Persistent bouts of the La Niña climate pattern are at least partially to blame for the flooding across the region.
During La Niña, warmer-than-normal ocean water moves west toward Southeast Asia, allowing for higher levels of moisture in the air and usually more persistent rainfall. This process can extend the duration of the seasonal monsoons and lead to heightened tropical cyclone activity in the western Pacific.
Since mid-September, Southeast Asia has seen a near-continuous string of storms born of these systems.
Ian Livingston contributed to this report.
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