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.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German...
Global cholera deaths reached their highest annual level in more than 20 years in 2025, despite a decline in reported cases, according to the World...
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power unit in Armenia as Yerevan weighs competing inte...
A Russian guided aerial bomb has struck an apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring 22 people, including children, according to the city’s mayor. The strike follows a day of near-continuous Russian attacks across Ukraine that killed at least five people.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has unveiled an action agenda designed to turn climate commitments into concrete projects and measurable results, focusing on clean energy, waste reduction, resilient cities and industrial decarbonisation.
Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment