Rabat – Heavy monsoon rains ravaged Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand this week. Cleanup and search-and-rescue operations have gone underway, and the death toll has reached an estimated 460, although converging reports vary.
The island of Sumatra in Indonesia, the worst-affected area, counts at least 300 people dead and 279 still missing.
Officials reported on Friday 61 fatalities and 90 people still missing in West Sumatra. Rescuers recovered an additional 31 bodies today in North Sumatra. The Aceh province reported a death toll of 35 people. Nearly 80,000 people have been evacuated off the island.
In Thailand, 145 people were killed by 3-meter high water levels. More than 3.8 million have been affected in total and the death toll has risen to 162 across the country.
Morgues in Thailand are reportedly over capacity and have had to move bodies to refrigerated trucks.
Tens of thousands have been displaced in Malaysia and have killed a reported 21 people.
The floods are a result of the heavy annual monsoon rains that typically occur between June and September in the greater Southeast Asia region.
The rains this year triggered massive landslides and flashfloods, alongside tropical storms developing between the Malacca Strait and Malay Peninsula have exacerbated the conditions.
The death toll in Thailand and Indonesia rank among the highest in floods in the two countries in recent years.