Cyclone-induced landslides and floods cut off roads across western Indonesia on Monday as improved weather revealed the growing scale of a disaster that has killed nearly 700 people across Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have suffered widespread devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait, driving a week of torrential rain and strong winds that hindered rescue efforts for people stranded by mudslides and high floodwaters.
Indonesia has recorded 502 deaths and 508 missing, while 176 people have died in Thailand and three in Malaysia, according to official figures on Monday.
Under clear skies in the West Sumatran town of Palembayan, hundreds of residents and volunteers worked to clear mud, fallen trees and debris from roads.
Some tried to recover documents, motorcycles and valuables from destroyed homes, while pickup trucks carrying families searched for missing relatives and delivered water to those wading through knee-deep mud.
Indonesia’s disaster agency says more than 28,000 homes have been damaged and 1.4 million people affected. The government is working to restore roads, bridges and telecommunications.
President Prabowo Subianto, visiting the three worst-hit provinces on Monday, praised local resilience.
“There are roads that are still cut off, but we’re doing everything we can to overcome difficulties,”
he said in North Sumatra.
“We face this disaster with resilience and solidarity. Our nation is strong right now, able to overcome this.”
Scientists warn that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to global warming. The storm comes after months of deadly weather across Southeast Asia, including typhoons that have battered the Philippines and Vietnam.
Thailand’s death toll rose to 176 on Monday amid flooding in eight southern provinces that has affected about 3 million people. The military has been mobilised to evacuate patients from hospitals and reach communities isolated for days.
In Songkhla province — where 138 deaths were recorded — the government said 85% of water services had been restored and should be fully operational by Wednesday.
Much of the effort is focused on Hat Yai, the major southern city that received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain on 21 November — its highest single-day total in 300 years — followed by days of relentless downpours.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has set a seven-day timeline for residents to return home, a government spokesperson said.
In neighbouring Malaysia, 11,600 people remained in evacuation centres on Monday. The disaster agency warned it is preparing for potential second and third waves of flooding as conditions remain unstable.
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