Floods in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand leave close to 1,000 dead

At least 954 people have died in recent days as a result of tropical storms, including floods and landslides, in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia. Thousands have been rescued from the extreme weather.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stated on Monday that the government’s top priority was “how to immediately send the necessary aid.”

According to Prabowo, “God willing, we can reach a number of remote villages,” adding that the government was using helicopters and aircraft to aid the relief effort.

In response to flooding and landslides that have claimed at least 442 lives and left hundreds more missing, Prabowo is increasingly being pressured to declare a national emergency.

Prabowo has so far refrained from making public appeals for international assistance in contrast to Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s counterpart in Sri Lanka.

The government of Indonesia has sent aid to some of the hardest-hit areas, where many roads remain blocked, by two hospital ships and three warships.

Floodwaters mostly receded in Sungai Nyalo village, which is located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Padang, West Sumatra’s capital, leaving mud-drenched homes, vehicles, and crops.

Idris, 55, who goes by one name, told the AFP news agency, “Most villagers chose to stay because they didn’t want to leave their homes behind.”

Sri Lanka seeks assistance

Meanwhile, the government of Sri Lanka has requested international assistance and is using military helicopters to reach stranded residents of the country due to flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

Sri Lanka’s disaster agency reported on Sunday that at least 334 people had died, many of whom are still missing.

A helicopter pilot was making an emergency landing north of Colombo while helping “flu-affected communities in Lunuwila,” the Sri Lankan Air Force reported in a Facebook post on Monday. “Traumically lost his life.”

Relief workers cleared roads slowed by fallen trees and mudslides, according to officials, who said the extent of the damage was only just beginning to become apparent.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the president’s declaration of an state of emergency to deal with the disaster, pledged to rebuild.

In a speech to the nation, Dissanayake said, “We are facing the largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history.”

“We will undoubtedly create a better world than what was before.”

In southern Thailand, the death toll rises.

At least 176 people have died as a result of ongoing flooding in Thailand’s south, according to Thai authorities on Monday.

Two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures, according to AFP, and the government has begun relief measures, but the flood response has received growing public criticism.

Two people were killed in Perlis state across the border of Malaysia, where extensive landslides also flooded large tracts of land.

Year of deadly floods in Asia

The most recent extreme weather events to devastate Southeast Asian nations in recent weeks include two typhoons that struck the Philippines just one week apart last month, killing at least 242 people.

A rare tropical storm that brought heavy rain to Sumatra Island specifically exacerbated the flooding that hit Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.