Fresh forecasts of rain on Thursday heightened fears of further destruction in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where catastrophic floods and landslides have already claimed more than 1,500 lives across four countries.
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In Indonesia, the national meteorological agency warned that the three worst-affected provinces on Sumatra are likely to experience “moderate to heavy” rainfall between Thursday and Friday. Although showers began overnight, they have yet to match the intensity of last week’s deluges that triggered deadly flash floods and landslides.
The confirmed death toll in Indonesia stood at 776 on Thursday—slightly revised as updates trickle in from remote and inaccessible areas. More than 560 people remain missing, with damaged communication lines and power outages hampering search efforts.
At a shelter in Pandan, North Sumatra, survivor Sabandi, 54, said she remained traumatised.
“We feel scared,” she told AFP. “We are afraid that if it rains suddenly, the flood will come again.”
She recalled being stranded on her roof for two days without food or water as mud engulfed her home. “The mud was so high that we couldn’t enter the house,” she said.
Across Asia, monsoon rains are essential for agriculture, but climate change is making weather patterns increasingly unpredictable and devastating. Last week, two powerful weather systems unleashed torrential rain across Sri Lanka, Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia, complicating relief operations on a massive scale.
In Indonesia’s Banda Aceh, an AFP reporter observed fuel queues stretching up to four kilometres, while survivors elsewhere complained of food shortages, soaring prices and looting.
In Sri Lanka, forecasters warned that the northeast monsoon would intensify from Thursday afternoon. Landslide alerts were renewed for badly hit central regions, with authorities urging residents to avoid returning to homes perched on saturated, unstable slopes.
The main Colombo–Kandy highway—115 kilometres long—has reopened for limited hours as crews work to clear debris. Alternative routes remain choked with traffic, and freshly exposed scars on mountainsides reveal the scale of recent landslides.
Sri Lanka has recorded at least 479 deaths, with hundreds more missing. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has appealed for international assistance, as officials estimate up to $7 billion will be required to rebuild homes, roads and industries—an immense challenge for a nation still recovering from its worst economic crisis in decades.
Soma Wanniarachchi, 69, said she resisted evacuation until rising floodwaters reached eight feet. Returning to her village of Kotuwila near Colombo, she found her catering rental business devastated.
“My stainless steel utensils are now probably in the Indian Ocean,” she said.
