MEDAN, Indonesia: Days of devastating flooding across Southeast Asia have killed more than 300 people in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, authorities said on Friday (Nov 28).
Heavy monsoon season rains paired with a tropical storm system inundated areas across the three countries, stranding residents on rooftops and cutting off entire communities.
Authorities in Indonesia were struggling to reach the worst-affected areas on Sumatra island, while authorities at a southern Thailand hospital brought in refrigerated trucks to store bodies after the morgue exceeded capacity.
In Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, 53-year-old Misniati described a terrifying battle against rising floodwaters to reach her husband at home.
She said that, returning from early morning prayers at a mosque, “I noticed the street was flooded.”
“I tried to run back to my house to tell my husband, and the water was already reaching my waist,” she told AFP, adding that it was up to her chest by the time she reached home.
“We didn’t sleep at all last night, we just monitored the water,” said Misniati, who only uses one name.
Officials on Sumatra said flooding and landslides this week had killed at least 174 people, with nearly 80 more missing.
Source: CNA
