HUNDREDS of people have died, and more than 1.5 million have been displaced across Southeast Asia following record-breaking rainfall and back-to-back tropical storms, United Nations agencies reported Tuesday.
Indonesia has been hit hardest, with 604 deaths, 464 people missing and 2,600 injured, according to the Indonesian National Disaster Office. More than 570,000 people have been displaced in the country.
The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also among the countries severely affected by what the World Meteorological Organisation described as a combination of monsoon rainfall and tropical cyclone activity.
Tropical Cyclone Senyar brought torrential rains, widespread flooding and landslides to northern Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand last week. The storm’s proximity to the Equator made it particularly unusual and devastating.
“It’s not something that we see very often, and it means the impacts are magnified because local communities have no experience in this,” said Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson, at a press briefing in Geneva.
Vietnam has endured weeks of severe weather and is preparing for additional heavy rainfall. In late October, a meteorological station in central Vietnam recorded 1,739 millimetres of rain in 24 hours — a potential national record and the second-highest known 24-hour rainfall total anywhere in the world. WMO is formally evaluating whether the measurement sets records for the Northern Hemisphere and Asia.
In Sri Lanka, Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on the east coast last week, affecting approximately 1.4 million people, including 275,000 children, according to UNICEF.
“With communications down and roads blocked, the true number of children impacted is likely even higher,” said Ricardo Pires, UNICEF spokesperson. “Homes have been swept away, entire communities isolated, and the essential services children rely on, such as water, healthcare and schooling, have been severely disrupted.”
Families have been forced into overcrowded shelters, while flooding and damaged water systems have increased disease outbreak risks, Pires said. He appealed for additional humanitarian funding.
WMO officials said rising temperatures are intensifying such weather events because warmer atmospheres hold more moisture, increasing the potential for extreme rainfall.
“We are seeing more extreme rainfall, and we will continue to do so in the future,” Nullis said.
