Rain forecasts on Thursday heightened fears of more damage in flood-stricken Indonesia and Sri Lanka, after previous floods claimed over 1,500 lives across four countries.
In Indonesia, the weather agency cautioned that the three most affected provinces on Sumatra island would experience “moderate to heavy” rain from Thursday to Friday.
The downpour began overnight, and while it hasn’t matched last week’s intensity, it has unsettled a region already traumatized by flash floods and landslides.
“We are afraid that if it rains suddenly, the flood will come again,” 54-year-old Sabandi told AFP at a shelter in Pandan, North Sumatra.
Indonesia’s death toll was 776 on Thursday, slightly revised down from the previous day as information trickles in from remote, less accessible areas.
More than 560 people remain missing, with erratic communications and power outages complicating efforts to determine their whereabouts.
Sabandi, who uses one name, said she was stranded on her roof for two days without food or water before she could evacuate.
“My house was filled with mud,” she said — so high she couldn’t enter.
Seasonal monsoons bring necessary rain for farmers across Asia, but climate change is making these patterns more erratic, unpredictable, and deadly.
Two separate weather systems drenched all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand, and northern Malaysia last week.
The disaster’s scale has made relief efforts challenging.
In Indonesia’s Banda Aceh, an AFP reporter noted that the line for fuel at one gas station stretched four kilometers (2.5 miles).
The provincial governor led a relief group to the devastated Aceh Tamiang region late Wednesday, delivering 30 tons of necessities like drinking water, rice, instant noodles, biscuits, eggs, and medicine, per a statement.
In nearby Langsa city, 49-year-old Erni took shelter with her family in an Islamic prayer hall after floods devastated their home.
They had enough drinking water and food aid to last a few days, but power outages and irregular access to clean water were making cleanup difficult, Erni said.
“The wardrobe, table, refrigerator — all are ruined,” she told AFP.
“We honestly can’t sleep, constantly thinking about what if the flood comes again.”
Elsewhere, survivors reported food shortages, price gouging, and looting.
In Sri Lanka, forecasters announced that the northeast monsoon was expected to arrive Thursday afternoon.
Landslide alerts were renewed for some of the hardest-hit areas of the central Kandy region, advising residents not to return home as the saturated slopes could collapse with more rain.
However, some were searching for the missing on Thursday in the village of Hadabima, where 18 bodies have been recovered from six homes flattened by landslides, survivor VK Muthukrishnan told AFP.
Six people remained unaccounted for, said the 42-year-old electrician.
“We can’t live here anymore because this village is now a cemetery,” Muthukrishnan said.
At least 479 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, with hundreds still missing, prompting the president to appeal for international support.
Authorities estimate they will need up to $7 billion to rebuild homes, industries, and roads, a significant challenge for a country still recovering from its worst-ever economic crisis three years ago.
