Floods in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand: Nearly 1,000 people killed

2025-12-01 08:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Floods and landslides caused by tropical storms in recent days have killed at least 954 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia, as efforts continue to help thousands more affected by the extreme weather.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has come under pressure to declare a national emergency in response to floods and landslides that have killed at least 442 people and left hundreds missing.

Unlike his Sri Lankan counterpart, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prabowo has so far refrained from publicly calling for international help. The Indonesian government has sent two hospital ships and three warships carrying aid to some of the worst-hit areas, where many roads remain impassable.

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, the government has requested international assistance and is using military helicopters to reach people stranded by floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah. At least 334 people have died there, Sri Lanka's disaster agency said on Sunday, while many more are missing.

A helicopter pilot tragically lost his life while making an emergency landing during a mission to support flood-affected communities in Lunuwila, north of Colombo, the Sri Lankan Air Force said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Thai authorities have said the death toll from ongoing flooding in the country's south has risen to at least 176. The government has launched relief efforts, but there has been growing public criticism of its response to the floods, and two local officials have been suspended for alleged failures.

Across the border in Malaysia, where torrential rains also flooded large areas of land in Perlis state, two people lost their lives.

This week's floods and landslides are the latest extreme weather events to ravage Southeast Asian countries in recent weeks, including two typhoons that hit the Philippines within a week of each other last month, killing at least 242 people.

Floods that hit Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were also worsened by a rare tropical storm that brought torrential rains, particularly to the island of Sumatra. Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms and producing more torrential rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. /CNA