“Tropical cyclones with heavy downpours, floods and landslides in some parts of Asia have killed almost 1,000 people, with Indonesia and Sri Lanka among the worst affected.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Bloomberg
Details: Three tropical cyclones coinciding with the northeast monsoon, which usually brings heavy downpours to Southeast Asia at this time of year, have caused widespread destruction in the region. Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand also received significantly more rain than normal over the past week, according to the US Climate Prediction Center.
Advertising:
On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, intense storm activity has left at least 442 dead and 402 missing, while the death toll in Thailand stands at 169. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the storm Senyar passed through the Strait of Malacca last week and dissipated over the South China Sea.
Blocked roads and damaged communication networks are hampering rescue and humanitarian efforts, according to Indonesia’s National Emergency Management Agency. The government also conducted a series of cloud seeding operations to reduce rainfall over the worst-hit areas.
The death toll from severe flooding in Sri Lanka rose sharply on Sunday, nearly doubling to 334 dead and 370 still missing. Cyclone Ditwah is expected to bring heavy rains to parts of southern India on Monday.
The storm’s passage left Sri Lanka facing its “biggest and most complex natural disaster,” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in a national address on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Storm Koto is forecast to linger in waters east of Vietnam, gradually weakening over the coming days. It is likely to bring more rain to central and north-central parts of Vietnam, which have already been hit by storms and floods that have caused at least $3 billion in damage in recent weeks.
According to the forecast, rains should decrease to seasonal levels in most affected areas from mid-week, with dry weather expected in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra in mid-December.