Jakarta: Indonesia's Sumatra island has been hit by severe flooding, with the death toll rising to at least 61, while Sri Lanka has been hit by floods and landslides after heavy rains over the past week, with 31 people killed and thousands displaced. Several houses were swept away by torrents and collapsed into a river in West Sumatra province yesterday, as desperate residents screamed, unable to help as the river's current surged terribly. Besides West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh provinces have also been hit hard by floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains this week. The death toll has risen to at least 61, with thousands of families forced to flee their homes, many saying they had never seen anything like it before. As rescuers continue to reach villages cut off from the outside world, the death toll is expected to rise significantly, with hundreds still missing.
According to Thai News Agency, Indonesia is another Southeast Asian country hit hard by floods and landslides, along with its neighbors Thailand and Malaysia. The disaster in Indonesia stemmed from unusually heavy rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Senyar, which battered much of the western coast and islands, including the Strait of Malacca. Indonesia's National Meteorological Agency forecast that parts of Sumatra, including West Sumatra and Riau provinces, will face flooding for at least another two to three days due to the extreme weather and heavy rainfall.
Sri Lanka has also been hit by massive floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains since the start of the week, killing at least 31 people and leaving 14 missing. The National Disaster Management Centre said the worst-affected area was in Badulla, a tea-growing region in the country's central region. Mudflows swept down a mountainside and buried at least 16 people overnight on Thursday. Four more people died in similar circumstances in neighboring Nuwara Eliya, with the remaining fatalities reported elsewhere. Multiple floods and mudslides have damaged nearly 400 homes and forced more than 1,100 households to take to temporary shelters.
Sri Lanka is entering the northeast monsoon season, but with heavier-than-usual rainfall due to a low-pressure area east of the island, more than 100 millimeters of rain is expected across Sri Lanka, with some areas in the northeast facing up to 250 millimeters on Thursday and Friday. The National Disaster Management Centre said river levels across Sri Lanka were expected to rise further and urged residents in low-lying areas to move to higher ground immediately.