Military Forces Mobilize to Support Asia's Flood Relief Efforts as Death Toll Exceeds 1,000

Share this @internewscast.com

Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed more than 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days.

Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

Arriving in North Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto said “the worst has passed, hopefully”.

The government’s “priority now is how to immediately send the necessary aid”, with particular focus on several isolated villages, he added.

Prabowo has come under increasing pressure to declare a national emergency in response to flooding and landslides that have killed at least 502 people in Indonesia, with hundreds more missing.

In contrast to his Sri Lankan counterpart, he has yet to request international aid publicly.

People drive on a motorbike on a road that's partly been washed away by flooding. Trees and other debris are scattered either side.

The recent flash floods in Batipuh village, located in West Sumatra, Indonesia, left a trail of destruction, damaging homes and a mosque, and cutting off road access. Source: Anadolu, Getty / Adi Prima

This disaster marks the deadliest natural event in Indonesia since the catastrophic 2018 earthquake and tsunami in Sulawesi, which claimed over 2,000 lives.

In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, the government called for international aid and used military helicopters to reach people stranded by flooding and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.

At least 340 people have been killed, Sri Lankan officials said on Monday, with many more still missing.

Floodwaters in the capital Colombo peaked overnight, and with rain now stopped, there were hopes that waters would start receding.

Blocked roads isolated many regions, while damage to telecommunications infrastructure severely disrupted communication. To overcome these challenges, relief and rescue operations employed helicopters to deliver essential supplies to those stranded in inaccessible areas.

People in a wide street lined with buildings. The street is flooded with brown water

In some parts, shops and offices have started to resume operations.

Officials said the extent of the damage in the worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

In Ma Oya, just north of the capital, Hasitha Wijewardena said he was struggling to clean up after the floods.

“The water has gone down, but the house is now full of mud,” he told local reporters, appealing for military help to clean up.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who declared a state of emergency to deal with the disaster, vowed Sri Lanka would rebuild.

“We are facing the largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history,” he said in an address to the nation.

“Certainly, we will build a better nation than what existed before.”

The losses and damage are the worst in Sri Lanka since the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that killed around 31,000 people there and left more than a million homeless.

Growing outcry in Thailand over flood response

Much of Asia is in its annual monsoon season, which often brings heavy rain, triggering landslides and flash floods.

But the flooding that hit Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia was also exacerbated by a rare tropical storm that dumped heavy rain on Sumatra island in particular.

Climate change has also increased the intensity of storms, and produced more heavy rain events because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.

People sheltering in a basketball stadium

This gymnasium in Hat Yai, southern Thailand, was used as an evacuation centre for people sheltering from widespread flooding late last week. Source: Getty / Sirachai Arunrugstichai

The waves of rain caused flooding that killed at least 176 people in southern Thailand, authorities said on Monday, one of the deadliest flood incidents in the country in a decade.

The government has rolled out relief measures, but there has been growing public criticism of the flood response, and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.

Across the border in Malaysia, where heavy rains also inundated large stretches of land in Perlis state, two people were killed.