Rescuers yesterday were hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of heavy equipment after flash floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra island left 79 people dead and dozens missing.
A tropical cyclone causing the damage is expected to continue hitting the Southeast Asian nation for days, the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said.
Monsoon rains on Tuesday caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province. The deluge tore through mountainside villages, swept away people and submerged more than 3,200 houses and buildings, the National Disaster Management Agency said. About 3,000 displaced families fled to government shelters.
Photo: AP
Elsewhere in Aceh and West Sumatra, thousands of houses were flooded, many up to roofs, the agency said.
At least 48 people died and 88 were missing, as rescue teams were struggling to reach affected areas in 12 cities and districts of North Sumatra province, the province’s police spokesperson Ferry Walintukan said.
Mudslides that covered much of the area, power blackouts and lack of telecommunications were hampering the search efforts, he said.
Flash floods that struck 15 cities and districts in West Sumatra province left at least 22 people dead and 10 missing, the provincial police said in a statement.
West Sumatra’s disaster mitigation agency reported the flooding submerged more than 17,000 homes, forcing about 23,000 residents to flee to temporary shelters. Rice fields, livestock and public facilities were also destroyed, and bridges and roads cut off by floods and landslides isolated residents.
Authorities struggled to bring excavators and other heavy equipment over washed-out roads after torrential rains sent mud and rocks crashing onto the hilly hamlets in Aceh, leaving at least nine people dead and two missing in three villages in Central Aceh district.
The extreme weather was driven by Tropical Cyclone Senyar, which formed in the Strait of Malacca, climate agency aviation meteorology director Achadi Subarkah Raharjo said.
He warned that unstable atmospheric conditions mean extreme weather could persist as long as the cyclone system remains active.
“We have extended its extreme weather warning due to strong water vapor supply and shifting atmospheric dynamics,” Raharjo said.
Senyar intensified rainfall, strong winds and high waves in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau and nearby areas before dissipating.
Its prolonged downpours left steep, saturated terrains highly vulnerable to disasters, he said.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS