The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in Southeast Asia rose to more than 350 on Saturday, as clean-up and search-and-rescue operations got underway in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Heavy monsoon rains lashed parts of three countries this week, killing hundreds and leaving thousands stranded, many on rooftops awaiting rescue.
Rescue workers in Indonesia are struggling to reach the worst-hit areas of Sumatra island, where more than 100 people are still missing.
More than 200 people have died in floods and landslides in Indonesia, according to figures from disaster officials.
“As of tonight, 61 deaths have been recorded and 90 are still being searched for,” Ilham Wahab, a spokesman for West Sumatra’s regional disaster mitigation agency, said late Friday. He updated the earlier figure of 23 for the province.
Another 116 people died in North Sumatra, while the death toll in Aceh province was at least 35, according to data released by the agency.
The head of the national disaster agency, Suharyanto, told a news conference that cloud seeding operations would be launched in West Sumatra to reduce the rains, most of which had already subsided by Saturday.
In southern Thailand, water levels in Songkhla province reached three meters and killed at least 145 people in the worst flooding in a decade. The government said the death toll in the country stood at 162.
Staff at a hospital in hard-hit Hat Yai moved bodies in refrigerated trucks after the morgue exceeded capacity.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited a shelter for displaced people in the district on Friday.
“I really have to apologize to them for allowing this to happen when I was in government,” he told reporters in footage broadcast on Amarin TV.
Announcing a two-week deadline to clean up the district, he said, “The next step is to prevent the situation from worsening.”
The Thai government launched relief measures for those affected by the floods, including compensation of up to 2 million baht ($62,000) for families who lost family members.
As flood waters receded, shop owner Rachen Remseringam picked up trash scattered among the aisles of his general merchandise store, and lamented the loss worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
His shop, Madam Yong’s, was looted and vandalized in the wake of the disaster, he said.
Public criticism of Thailand’s flood response is increasing and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.
An MP from the opposition People’s Party criticized the administration, saying it had “misjudged the situation” and made “mistakes in handling the flood crisis”.
Two people have died as floods caused by heavy rains in Malaysia left parts of northern Perlis state inundated.
The annual monsoon season, usually between June and September, often brings heavy rains, causing landslides and flash floods.
Conditions have worsened due to a tropical storm, and the death toll from floods in Indonesia and Thailand is among the highest among those countries in recent years.
Climate change has affected hurricane patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, causing heavy rainfall, flash floods and strong wind gusts.
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