SE Asian Death Toll Rises Past 1,300 Across Multiple Countries; Massive Damage In Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Southern Thailand
Tropical cyclones have combined with heavy monsoon rains to lay waste to swathes of Asia, killing more than 1,300 people and leaving many more homeless. Parts of the Indonesian archipelago have been particularly hard hit by flooding that began about a week ago, killing 604 people and leaving 464 missing. Nearly 300,000 people have been displaced and nearly 3,000 houses damaged, including 827 that were flattened or swept away.
In the Indonesian island of Sumatra, videos circulating on social media showed people scrambling across crumbling barricades, flooded roads and broken glass to get their hands on food, medicine and fuel. Some were wading through waist-deep flood waters to reach damaged convenience stores. A police spokesperson, Ferry Walintukan, said regional police had been deployed to restore order. “The looting happened before logistical aid arrived,” Walintukan said. “[Residents] didn’t know that aid would come and were worried they would starve.”
In Sri Lanka, the death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah stands at 355, with 366 missing. The country’s disaster management centre said more than 1.3 million people across the country had been affected by the record rains. It is the worst extreme weather to hit Sri Lanka 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 heavy rains that often sweep through the region at this time of year have been exacerbated by the rare formation of two tropical cyclones – Koto and Senyar – which have helped fuel the rains by bringing in more moist, warm air. Indonesia’s meteorology agency said the formation of Senyar in the strait of Malacca was a “rare” event, although one that had become more frequent in the past five years. “Indonesia’s location near the equator theoretically makes it less prone to the formation or passage of tropical cyclones,” said Andri Ramdhani at Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency. Areas very close to the equator usually lack the Coriolis force that enables storms to develop.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/01/asia-floods-visual-guide-flooding-extreme-weather-cyclones-monsoon