PALEMBAYAN, Indonesia, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Rescue teams in western Indonesia were working on Monday to clear roads closed by landslides and flooding caused by cyclones, as improving weather revealed more of the scale of a disaster that has killed about 700 people in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand suffered large-scale devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Strait of Malacca, bringing torrential rain and gusty winds for a week, hampering efforts to reach people trapped in landslides and floods.
At least 176 people were killed in Thailand and three in Malaysia, while the death toll rose to 502 in Indonesia on Monday, with 508 missing, according to official data.
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Under sunshine and clear blue skies in the city of Palembayan in Indonesia’s West Sumatra, hundreds of people were clearing mud, trees and debris from roads, and some residents were trying to salvage valuable items such as documents and motorbikes from their damaged homes.
Men in camouflage outfits searched through piles of poles, concrete and twisted sheet metal roofs, while pickup trucks packed with people roamed the streets looking for missing family members and distributing water to people, some walking through knee-deep mud.
The government’s recovery efforts include restoring roads, bridges and telecommunications services. More than 28,000 homes were damaged in Indonesia and 1.4 million people were affected, according to the disaster agency.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visited the three affected provinces on Monday and praised residents for their spirit in the face of what he called a catastrophe.
“There are roads that are still closed, but we are doing everything we can to overcome the difficulties,” he said in North Sumatra.
“We face this disaster with resilience and solidarity. Our nation is strong at this moment, capable of overcoming this.”
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The devastation in the three countries follows months of harsh and deadly weather in Southeast Asia, including typhoons that hit the Philippines and Vietnam and caused frequent and prolonged flooding elsewhere.
Scientists have warned that extreme weather events will become more frequent as a result of global warming.
