Death toll from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand floods, landslides hits 934

The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand rose sharply to 934 on Sunday.

Sri Lanka’s disaster agency said on Sunday that the death toll in the country stands at 334, with many more still missing.

It is the worst natural disaster to hit the island in two decades, and officials said the extent of damage in the worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the death toll had risen to 334, up from 212 earlier on Sunday, with nearly 400 missing and more than 1.3 million people across the island affected by the record rains.

The losses and damage are the worst since the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that killed around 31,000 people and left more than a million homeless.

Rain had subsided across Sri Lanka, but low-lying areas of the capital were flooded on Sunday, and authorities were bracing for a major relief operation.

A Bell 212 helicopter carrying food for patients stranded at a hospital just north of Colombo crashed into a river on Sunday evening. An Air Force spokesman told AFP all five crew members were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.

Another helicopter sent from India rescued 24 people on Sunday, including a pregnant woman and a man in a wheelchair, marooned in the central town of Kotmale, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) northeast of Colombo.

Pakistan was also sending rescue teams, the Sri Lankan Air Force said, while Japan will also send a team to assess Sri Lanka’s immediate needs and has pledged assistance.

The air force said two infants and a 10-year-old child had also been rescued from a hospital in the northern town of Chilaw, which was submerged on Saturday.

Authorities said flood levels in the capital would take at least a day to recede, while dry weather was also forecast. Cyclone Ditwah moved north towards India on Saturday.

Deadliest in years

The National Blood Transfusion Service said supplies were short even though there have been relatively few injuries.

The National Building Research Organisation, which monitors the stability of hills, said there was a high risk of further landslides because mountain slopes were still saturated with rainwater.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency on Saturday to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone and appealed for international aid.

The worst flooding since the turn of the century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Flooding toll tops 600 in Indonesia, Thailand

Indonesian and Thai authorities raced on Sunday to clear debris and find hundreds of missing people as the death toll from devastating floods and landslides topped 600.

Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swaths of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia this week, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies.

At least two areas of Indonesia’s worst-affected Sumatra island were still unreachable on Sunday, and authorities said they had deployed two warships from Jakarta to deliver aid.

Central Tapanuli and Sibolga city “require full attention due to being isolated”, National Disaster agency head Suharyanto said in a statement, adding that the ships were expected in Sibolga on Monday today.

The death toll in Indonesia rose to 442, while 402 were still missing, according to a tally published on Sunday by the disaster authority.

It said at least 646 people had been injured.

In Sungai Nyalo village, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from West Sumatra’s capital Padang, floodwaters had mostly receded on Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles and crops coated in thick grey mud.

Authorities had not yet begun clearing roads, residents told AFP, and no outside assistance had arrived.

“Most villagers chose to stay; they didn’t want to leave their houses behind,” said Idris, 55, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.

Across the island towards the north coast, an endangered Sumatran elephant lay buried in thick mud and debris near damaged buildings in Meureudu town.

In Thailand, where at least 162 people were killed in one of the worst floods in a decade, authorities continued to deliver aid and clear the damage.

Relief measures rolled out by the Thai government include compensation of up to two million baht ($62,000) for households that lost family members.

However, there has been growing public criticism of Thailand’s flood response, and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.

Two people were killed in Malaysia after floods left stretches of northern Perlis state underwater.

The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rain, triggering landslides and flash floods.

A tropical storm has exacerbated conditions, and the tolls in Indonesia and Thailand rank among the highest in floods in those countries in recent years.

Climate change has affected storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts.

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