Authorities say 79 people are missing and thousands of families have been displaced from their homes in Sumatra.
“As of this afternoon, we have recorded 116 deaths across the entire North Sumatra province and 42 people are still being searched for,” Suhariyanto, head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), announced on Friday.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Another 35 people were killed in the island’s Aceh province and another 23 in West Sumatra, he said.
He said the rains have stopped, but 79 people are still missing and thousands of families have been displaced.
Residents of the Padang Pariaman area of Sumatra, where a total of 22 people died, faced water levels at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) high, and search and rescue workers were still unable to reach them on Friday.
In the city of Batang Toru in North Sumatra, residents buried seven unclaimed victims in a mass grave on Friday. The mutilated bodies, wrapped in black plastic, were lifted onto the back of a truck onto a wide plot of land and onlookers covered their noses.
Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for Indonesia’s national disaster mitigation agency, said communications were down in parts of the island and officials were working to restore power and clear roads blocked by landslide debris.
He said Indonesia would continue to send air support and rescue workers to affected areas on Friday.
In Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, Misniati, 53, described a terrifying battle against rising floodwaters to reach her husband’s home.
He said that, while returning from morning prayers at a mosque, “I saw that the road was flooded.
“I tried to go back to my house to tell my husband, and the water was already reaching my waist,” she told AFP news agency. She said that when she reached home the water had reached her chest.
Flood disasters elsewhere in Asia
Meanwhile, in Thailand, the government said 145 people had died in floods in eight southern provinces. Overall, more than 35 lakh people have been affected, it said.
In the southern city of Hat Yai, the hardest-hit part of Thailand, the rains finally stopped on Friday, but residents are still ankle-deep in floodwaters, and many remain without power as they assess the damage to their property over the past week.
Some residents said they escaped the worst of the flood but are still suffering from its effects.
In neighboring Malaysia, where two deaths have been confirmed, Tropical Storm Senyar made landfall around midnight and has since weakened.
Meteorological officials are still bracing themselves for heavy rain and wind, and warned that rough seas could pose a risk to small boats.
A total of 30,000 refugees remain in shelters, up from 34,000 on Thursday.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had already evacuated 1,459 Malaysians stranded in more than 25 flood-hit hotels in Thailand, adding that it would work to rescue the remaining 300 people stranded in flood areas.
Separately, at least 56 people were killed by the cyclone in the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, officials said.
<a href