Militaries aid Asia flood victims as toll nears 1,000

PADANG, Indonesia (AFP) — Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel on Monday to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days.

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.

Arriving in North Sumatra on Monday, Indonesia 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 isolated villages, he added.

Prabowo has come under increasing pressure to declare a national emergency in response to flooding and landslides that have killed at least 442 people, with hundreds more missing.

Unlike his Sri Lankan counterpart, he has also not publicly called for international assistance.

The toll is the deadliest in a natural disaster in Indonesia since a massive 2018 earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than 2,000 people in Sulawesi.

The government has sent three warships carrying aid and two hospital ships to some of the worst-hit areas, where many roads remain impassable.

In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, the government called for international aid and used military helicopters to reach people stranded by flooding and landslides triggered by “Cyclone Ditwah.”

At least 340 people have been killed, Sri Lankan officials said on Monday, with many more still missing.

Floodwaters in the capital Colombo peaked overnight, and with rain now stopped there were hopes that waters would begin receding.

Some shops and offices began to reopen.

Officials said the extent of the damage in the worst-affected central region was only just being revealed as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

In Ma Oya, just north of the capital, Hasitha Wijewardena said he was struggling to clean up after the floods.

“The water has gone down, but the house is now full of mud,” he told local reporters, appealing for military help to clean up.