BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Governments and aid groups in Indonesia and Sri Lanka worked Tuesday (Dec 2) to rush aid to hundreds of thousands stranded by deadly flooding that has killed 1,300 people in four countries.
Torrential monsoon season deluges paired with two separate tropical cyclones last week dumped heavy rain across Sri Lanka and parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.
Climate change is producing more intense rain events because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and warmer oceans can turbocharge storms.
AFP analysis of US weather data showed several flood-hit regions across Asia experienced their highest November rainfall totals since 2012.
The floodwaters have now largely receded, but the devastation means hundreds of thousands of people are now living in shelters and struggling to secure clean water and food.
In Indonesia’s Aceh, one of the worst-affected regions, residents told AFP that survivors who could afford to were stockpiling supplies.
“Road access is mostly cut off in flood-affected areas,” 29-year-old Erna Mardhiah said as she joined a long queue at a petrol station in Banda Aceh.
“People are worried about running out of fuel,” she added from the line she had been in for two hours.
The pressure has caused skyrocketing prices.
“Most things are already sky-high … chillies alone are up to 300,000 rupiah per kilo (US$18), so that’s probably why people are panic-buying,” she said.
On Monday, Indonesia’s government said it was sending 34,000 tons of rice and 6.8 million litres of cooking oil to the three worst-affected provinces, Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra.
“There can be no delays,” Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said.
But Alfian, a resident in Banda Aceh, told AFP the government had been “very slow, especially in ensuring basic necessities”.
Source: CNA
