In brief
Recent heavy rainfall has caused unprecedented flooding in Southern Asia, affecting multiple countries and resulting in approximately 700 fatalities. Rescue operations are ongoing as thousands remain stranded and hundreds are still missing. The crisis has been described as one of the worst in years, driven by a combination of monsoons and tropical storms, leading to widespread destruction and displacement.
Torrential rains have triggered floods and landslides across parts of southern Asia, killing about 700 people.
Monsoon rain exacerbated by tropical storms caused some of the region's worst flooding in years, with millions affected in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.
Intense rainfall began on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday. During the flood, everything was gone, a resident of Bireuen in Sumatra's Aceh province told Reuters news agency. I wanted to save my clothes, but my house came down.
With hundreds still missing, the death toll is likely to rise. Thousands remain stranded, some awaiting rescue on rooftops.
As of Saturday more than 300 people had died in Indonesia, 160 in Thailand, and at least two in Malaysia. In Sri Lanka, which has been battered by heavy rains and a cyclone, more than 130 people are dead and some 170 missing, officials said.
Indonesia's disaster agency said on Saturday that nearly 300 people were still missing after flooding devastated Sumatra. An exceptionally rare tropical cyclone, Cyclone Senyar, caused catastrophic landslides and flooding, with homes swept away and thousands of buildings submerged.
In Pidie Jaya Regency in Aceh Province, resident Arini Amalia told the BBC: The current was very fast, in a matter of seconds it reached the streets, entered the houses. She said she and her grandmother raced to a relative's house on higher ground. On returning the following day to retrieve belongings, she discovered her house had been completely swallowed by the flood.
Rescue operations have been hampered by bad weather. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated but hundreds still remain stranded, reported the Indonesian disaster agency.
In songkla, southern Thailand, water rose 3m (10ft) and at least 145 people died in one of the worst floods in a decade. The government has promised relief measures, including compensation for families lost to flooding. Sri Lanka has also declared a state of emergency and is seeking international assistance, as severe weather hampers recovery efforts.
Meteorologists attribute the extreme weather in Southeast Asia to climate change, which has altered storm patterns leading to heavier rainfall and more severe flooding.
