The death toll from devastating floods across Southeast Asia climbed to at least 183 people on Friday (28 November). Authorities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka struggle to rescue stranded residents, restore power and communications, and deliver aid to cut-off communities.
Indonesia has been the worst affected, with 94 deaths confirmed on Sumatra, where cyclone-driven torrential rains and a rare tropical storm over the Malacca Strait have inundated entire districts since last week.
In Padang Pariaman alone, 22 people perished to floods, and many neighbourhoods remained under at least one metre of water. Some residents reported running out of food and supplies as search and rescue teams were unable to reach isolated areas due to blocked roads and ongoing communication outages.
Officials said airlifts would continue throughout Friday to deliver aid and deploy more rescuers.
Thailand reported at least 94 fatalities, 55 of which occured in the southern province of Songkhla. Although rain stopped in the regional hub of Hat Yai on Friday, floodwaters still reached residents’ ankles, and large parts of the city remained without electricity.
At an indoor basketball arena repurposed as an evacuation centre, 70-year-old Kritchawat Sothiananthakul tearfully described how he waited with his dog to be rescued, as floodwaters in his Hat Yai home rose relentlessly.
"We had to climb down from the roof, get into the boat," he said. "I needed to carry it and then get onto a truck... We had to leave everything because everything was submerged."
Thai meteorologists described the deluge as the most severe in 15 years, noting that Hat Yai recorded 335 mm (13 inches) of rain on Friday — the city’s highest single-day total in three centuries.
In Sri Lanka, authorities confirmed 46 deaths linked to the same weather system, which brought destructive winds and flooding to the island nation.
Malaysia reported two deaths and widespread displacement as tropical storm Senyar made landfall shortly after midnight before weakening. Meteorologists warned that heavy rain, strong winds and hazardous sea conditions remained likely.
One of the residents forced to leave her home due to flooding, NorZafilini Al-Zakiri, 35, has had to deal with the natural disaster just weeks after giving birth to her third child.
"With the baby and kids, we're so scared because we need to keep them safe, but I fight my fears and slowly rebuild here,” Al-Zakiri told Reuters.
More than 30,000 evacuees were still sheltering in relief centres on Friday, down from 34,000 the day before.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it had evacuated 1,459 citizens from more than 25 flood-affected hotels in Thailand and was working to rescue the remaining 300 Malaysians still stranded in inundated areas.
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