Asia is facing the worst floods in decades, with more than a thousand people killed and hundreds missing

Madrid, December 2 (European Press) –

Heavy rains recorded over the past week have wreaked havoc in several countries in Asia, a region already facing some of the worst floods and landslides in decades, with thousands dead and hundreds missing.

Cyclones particularly struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia, where millions of people were seriously affected and had to leave their homes to protect themselves from landslides and strong water currents. Currently, the death toll is approaching 1,300 people and the missing are approaching a thousand.

Indonesia and Sri Lanka

It appears that Indonesia, where damage was particularly concentrated on the island of Sumatra, bore the brunt. With more than 700 people dead and hundreds missing due to the passage of Cyclone Senyar, more than 3.3 million people have already been affected across the country.

The situation, which has made search and rescue operations difficult, prompted the country’s president, Prabowo Subianto, to visit evacuees in the north of the island, where he addressed the challenges posed by supply shortages and road closures.

Therefore, I ordered several ships to be sent to North Sumatra to deliver humanitarian aid to the displaced, while some road traffic remains cut off.

More than a million survivors, who have moved to shelters arranged by the authorities, are warning of strong currents and storm violence, despite being accustomed to frequent rainy seasons.

In Sri Lanka, the authorities – who estimated the death toll from the passage of Cyclone “Ditua” at more than 400 people – warned that these numbers are not accurate because it is estimated that there will be “a much higher number of deaths.” Hundreds of people are still missing, while emergency operations continue for the fourth day in a row.

The worst affected areas in the country are in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Bedulla districts, where more than a hundred landslides have been reported. Kandy is the district with the highest number of deaths, 88, according to the latest official tally.

The country’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, acknowledged that this is one of the “most challenging natural disasters in the country’s history” and lamented the difficulties faced by emergency and civil protection workers, other UN agencies and NGOs.

The country, already under a state of emergency, did not remember a similar scenario for decades, in the early 2000s. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 275,000 children have been seriously affected.

Thailand and Malaysia

Save the Children warned that the situation had left nearly 5 million children without access to schools in Indonesia and Thailand to be used as shelters for displaced people.

“Floods affect boys and girls the most,” says Guillaume Rachu, executive director of Save the Children in Thailand. “Overnight, they lost their school, safe places to play and essential services like clean water and healthcare,” he said in a statement. “It is essential that classrooms are cleaned, repaired and reopened so that children can return to school safely.”

“As shelters become overcrowded, the risks of exploitation, separation from parents and emotional distress for children increase. Without urgent support, Thai children’s safety, education and mental health will continue to deteriorate,” he noted.

Thailand, which has recorded more than 180 deaths, has also been seriously affected by the severe weather hitting the Malacca Strait and also reaching Malaysia.

Although the authorities have already begun clean-up efforts to remove mud from the streets and rebuild damaged buildings, estimates indicate that more than 3.9 million people have been affected.

The government has chosen to establish public kitchens to provide food to those who cannot return home. Last week, the Thai government declared Songkhla province in the south of the country a “disaster zone.”

But rescue teams warned at all times that operations faced “enormous difficulties,” especially when dealing with the remains of the deceased.

In Malaysia, several people died due to the Senyar Corridor, and more than 30,000 people were evacuated. The deceased are located in Perlis state, in the north of the country.

This represents a much smaller crisis for the country than its neighbor Thailand, although it is another reflection of the fragile situation in which the Southeast Asian region finds itself in the face of extreme weather events and climate change.