Severe storms kill nearly 1000 in South-East Asia, Sri Lanka
In Sumatra, a week of torrential rain intensified by a rare cyclone has killed at least 442 people and another 402 are missing, and officials warned casualty numbers would likely climb as rescue teams used boats and helicopters to reach affected areas.
Storm Senyar, which circled the Strait of Malacca last week, has dissipated over the South China Sea, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
Cut-off roads and downed communication networks are complicating rescue and relief efforts, Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on Sunday.
Infrastructure damage is extensive, blocking access to several villages and forcing authorities to use helicopters and navy ships to move supplies. Residents have described the flooding as the “worst in our lifetime”, with some homes submerged up to their rooftops.
The Indonesian government has also carried out aerial cloud seeding operations in an attempt to reduce rain over hard-hit areas.
Two million homes hit in Thailand
Elsewhere, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing halted operations at a crude oil refinery following damage from storm Senyar.
Flooding unleashed by the torrential rain in southern Thailand has claimed 176 lives and affected more than two million households, according to officials.
Total economic losses are estimated at 23.6 billion baht ($1.1 billion), with hotels and restaurants among the hardest hit, according to Krungsri Research. Rubber and palm oil production also sustained significant damage.
Storm Senyar was the first cyclone to form in the Strait of Malacca since the destructive Typhoon Vamei ripped through there in 2001, according to the HKO.
It is rare for cyclones to form this close to the equator, in part because of a weaker rotational force, known as the Coriolis effect, at low latitudes. However, a combination of factors including warm water temperatures in the strait created the conditions for Senyar’s formation, the observatory said.
Rain pounds Sri Lanka, Vietnam
In Sri Lanka, deaths from heavy flooding rose sharply on Sunday, almost doubling to 334 dead and another 370 missing. Cyclone Ditwah, which hit land on Friday, was forecast to bring heavy rain to some parts of southern India on Monday.
The storm’s passage has left Sri Lanka facing its “largest and most challenging natural disaster”, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Storm Koto is forecast to linger in the waters east of Vietnam as it gradually weakens over the next few days. It will likely bring more rain to central and northern-central Vietnam, which have already been pounded by storms and historic floods that have racked up at least $US3 billion ($4.6 billion) in losses in recent weeks.
Rain is forecast to ease off to seasonal levels in most of the affected areas from midweek, with a drier trend predicted for peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra around mid-December.
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