Rescuers step up recovery operations as South-east Asia flood deaths cross 250

JAKARTA/BANGKOK - The death toll from floods across large swathes of South-east Asia rose to more than 250 on Nov 28, with the authorities in the region working to rescue stranded citizens, restore power and communications and coordinate recovery efforts as the waters began to recede.

Large parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been stricken by

cyclone-fuelled torrential rain for a week,

with a rare tropical storm forming in the Malacca Strait.

Another 46 people were killed by a cyclone in the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, the authorities said.

On badly hit Sumatra in Indonesia, 94 people had been confirmed dead by the afternoon of Nov 28, said Mr Abdul Muhari, spokesman for Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency.

In the Padang Pariaman region of Sumatra, where a total of 22 people died, residents had to cope with water levels at least one metre high, and had still not been reached by search and rescue personnel on Nov 28.

“We’re running out of supplies and food,” said Mr Muhammad Rais, a 40-year-old resident who was forced to move to the second floor of his home to escape the rapidly rising waters.

Communications remained down in some parts of the island, and the authorities were working to restore power and clear roads that have been blocked by landslide debris, he said. 

Indonesia will continue to airlift aid and rescue personnel into stricken areas on Nov 28, he added.

More rain is forecast for much of Sumatra, though the intensity is expected to ease, officials said.

In the city of Hat Yai, the hardest hit part in Thailand, the rain had finally stopped on Nov 28, but residents were still ankle-deep in flood waters and many remained without electricity as they assessed the damage done to their property over the last week. One said he had “lost everything”. 

Some residents said they were spared the worst of the floods but were still suffering from the effects.

“It affects everything for us, in every way,” said 52-year old Somporn Petchtae. “My place wasn’t flooded, but I was stuck like I was on an island because I couldn’t go anywhere.”

At least 145 people have been killed across Thailand’s southern provinces, government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said on Nov 28, as receding flood waters allowed a clearer picture of the disaster.

Most of those are concentrated in Songkhla province, where the authorities at the Songklanagarind Hospital said they had no more room to receive bodies and were now relying on refrigerated trucks.

“The morgue has exceeded its capacity, so we need more,” Charn, a morgue official who only gave his first name, told AFP news agency.

In neighbouring Malaysia, where two people have been confirmed dead, tropical storm Senyar made landfall at around midnight and has since weakened.

The meteorological authorities are still bracing themselves for heavy rain and winds, and warned that rough seas could pose risks for small boats. 

A total of 30,000 evacuees remain in shelters, down from more than 34,000 on Nov 27.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said on Nov 28 that it had already evacuated 1,459 Malaysian nationals stranded in more than 25 flood-hit hotels in neighbouring Thailand, adding that it would work to rescue the remaining 300 still caught up in flood zones. REUTERS, AFP