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<\/p>\nDays of heavy monsoon rains inundated vast areas, leaving thousands stranded and many clinging to rooftops and trees waiting for help.<\/p>\n
The flooding and landslides killed at least 1,303 people, with 712 people confirmed dead in Indonesia, 410 in Sri Lanka and 181 in Thailand, authorities said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A village affected by a flash flood in Batang Toru (Binsar Bakkara\/AP)<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka\u2019s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said it is too early to determine the exact number of dead.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the hardest-hit nation, rescuers struggled to access villages on Sumatra island, where roads have been washed out and bridges collapsed.<\/p>\n
At least 507 people remain missing, according to the country\u2019s National Disaster Management Agency.<\/p>\n
Helicopters and boats have been deployed, but officials warn that worsening weather and damaged infrastructure are slowing operations.<\/p>\n
Floods and landslides in North Sumatra carried away millions of cubic metres of felled timber, officials said, sparking public concern that illegal logging may have contributed to the disaster.<\/p>\n
Batang Toru, the lush forested area, has turned into a wasteland of broken logs and shattered homes. Roads have vanished, replaced by rivers of sludge.<\/p>\n
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Men stand on logs swept away by flash flooding in Batang Toru (Binsar Bakkara\/AP)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not just a natural disaster, it\u2019s a man-made crisis,\u201d said Rianda Purba from the Indonesian Environmental Forum, an activist group.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeforestation and unchecked development have stripped Batang Toru of its resilience. Without urgent restoration and stricter protections, these floods will become the new normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week after flash floods and landslides swept through West Sumatra, survivors were still awaiting news of their loved ones still unaccounted for.<\/p>\n
Zahari Sutra held photos of his missing wife and two daughters aged four and two, as he pleaded for help with rescuers in Sikumbang village in Agam district.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther victims have been found \u2026 why not my family?\u201d<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old farmer said he dropped his motorbike and ran for higher ground when rising waters blocked his path to home last Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said the raging current swallowed his home. He waded through the water shouting for his wife and daughters, but there was only silence.<\/p>\n
As darkness fell, he found his eldest, a five-year-old girl, covered in mud, but safe. Fearing more floods, Mr Sutra clung to a lychee tree with his daughter until dawn, when the full scope of the disaster was revealed: all homes were gone or buried under tons of mud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI carried my daughter and went for help,\u201d he said, his voice breaking. \u201cMy only prayer is to find my wife and children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Military-led rescue teams in Sri Lanka scoured flood-devastated areas for 336 people still missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, the Disaster Management Centre said.<\/p>\n
Roads were blocked by landslides and bridges have collapsed, making access difficult.<\/p>\n
In the central city of Kandy, residents struggled without running water, relying instead on bottled water collected from natural springs. Authorities warned that conditions could worsen as more rain is forecast in the coming days.<\/p>\n
President Dissanayake, speaking in a meeting with government officials, described the disaster as the worst to strike the country in recent history, saying it remains impossible to determine the full scale of casualties.<\/p>\n
He warned that the death toll is likely far higher than current figures.<\/p>\n
He said that government agencies were working to reach isolated communities.<\/p>\n
In southern Thailand, cleanup has begun on streets and in buildings after massive floods affected more than 1.5 million households and 3.9 million people.<\/p>\n
Authorities are working to restore infrastructure, including water and electricity.<\/p>\n
Thailand\u2019s Interior Ministry said on Monday it would set up public kitchens to provide freshly cooked food to affected residents.<\/p>\n
The first batch of compensation payments is set to be distributed to 26,000 people, government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat also said on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days of heavy monsoon rains inundated vast areas, leaving thousands stranded and many clinging to rooftops and trees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-176624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}