Asia floods toll tops 1 000 as military aid survivors

THE toll in deadly flooding and landslides across parts of Asia climbed past 1 000 yesterday as hardest-hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel to help survivors.

- 

PEOPLE looking out from residential buildings surrounded by flood waters in Hat Yai. Tens of thousands of people in Thailand and neighbouring Malaysia were displaced by widespread flooding, with streets submerged, homes inundated and at least 34 dead, officials said.

(AFP)

Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

Much of the region is currently in its monsoon season but climate change is producing more extreme rain events and turbocharging storms.

The relentless rains left residents clinging to rooftops awaiting rescue by boat or helicopter, and cut entire villages off from assistance.

Arriving in North Sumatra yesterday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said “the worst has passed, hopefully”.

The government's “priority now is how to immediately send the necessary aid”, with particular focus on several cutoff areas, he added.