Rescue and recovery operations are continuing across parts of South and Southeast Asia as the death toll from catastrophic flooding and multiple cyclones has surged past 1,000 confirmed fatalities. Authorities report that extreme weather last week has led to devastating losses across several nations.
A Region Submerged: The Scale of the Disaster
According to official figures, the extreme weather has killed at least 334 people in Sri Lanka, 502 in Indonesia, and 176 in Thailand. The situation remains critical, with hundreds still missing and millions impacted by the unprecedented deluge.
In Sri Lanka, the crisis was triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake described as the "largest and most challenging" natural disaster in the country's history. The cyclone brought torrential downpours that flooded homes, agricultural fields, and roads, while also triggering deadly landslides in the hilly central region.
Rescuers are still searching for 370 missing people on the island. The country's disaster management centre stated that nearly a million people have been affected, with almost 200,000 forced to seek refuge in emergency shelters. Although train and flight services have resumed after last week's disruptions, schools remained closed as communities begin the arduous task of recovery.
Search and Recovery Efforts Intensify
The impact stretched beyond Sri Lanka. The cyclone also brought heavy rainfall to India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, where authorities confirmed three rain-related fatalities. By Monday, weather officials reported the storm had weakened into a "deep depression" off the coast of Chennai and was expected to dissipate further.
In Southeast Asia, close to 700 people lost their lives as two separate cyclones struck the region. Indonesia has been particularly hard hit, with rescuers still searching for at least 508 people missing. The disaster has damaged more than 28,000 homes and affected an estimated 1.4 million people.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who visited the three affected provinces on Monday, called the event a catastrophe and pledged to rebuild vital infrastructure. The flooding has displaced nearly 300,000 people across the nation.
One survivor, Afrianti, 41, from Padang city in West Sumatra, recounted the terrifying speed of the disaster: "The water just rose up into the house and we were afraid, so we fled. Then we came back on Friday, and the house was gone, destroyed." She and her family of nine are now sheltering beside the single remaining wall of their home.
Unprecedented Rainfall and Long-Term Impact
In Thailand, flooding across eight southern provinces has affected approximately three million people. The situation necessitated a major mobilisation of the military to evacuate critical patients from hospitals and reach those stranded for days.
The worst-affected city, the southern trading hub of Hat Yai, experienced a staggering 335 mm (13 inches) of rain on 21 November, marking its highest single-day rainfall total in 300 years. This was followed by days of relentless downpours.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnivirakul expects residents to be able to return home within a week, a government spokesperson said on Monday. The first batch of compensation payments, totalling 239 million baht (£5.6 million), is set to be distributed starting with 26,000 affected individuals.
Neighbouring Malaysia has also felt the effects, reporting at least three deaths. Authorities remain on high alert for potential second and third waves of flooding, with 11,600 people still housed in evacuation centres.
As recovery operations slowly begin, with people clearing mud and wreckage from roads, the full scale of the infrastructural and economic damage across the region is yet to be calculated. The series of storms underscores the increasing severity of extreme weather events linked to broader climate patterns.
