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The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in south-east Asia climbed past 350 on Saturday as clean-up and search and rescue operations got under way in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swathes of the three countries this week, killing hundreds and leaving thousands stranded, many on rooftops awaiting rescue.
Rescuers in Indonesia were struggling to reach the worst-affected areas of Sumatra island, where more than 100 people were still missing.
Flooding and landslides in Indonesia have killed more than 200 people, according to figures from the disaster authorities.
“As of tonight, 61 fatalities have been recorded, and 90 are still being searched for,” a spokesperson for West Sumatra’s regional disaster mitigation agency, Ilham Wahab, said late on Friday, updating an earlier toll of 23 for the province.
In North Sumatra, another 116 people had died, while in Aceh province the death toll was at least 35 people, according to figures released by the agency.
The national disaster agency’s head, Suharyanto, told a news conference that a cloud seeding operation would begin in West Sumatra to reduce the rainfall, most of which had already subsided by Saturday.
In southern Thailand, water levels reached three metres in Songkhla province and killed at least 145 people in one of the worst floods in a decade. The country’s death toll was 162, the government said.
Workers at one hospital in hard-hit Hat Yai moved bodies into refrigerated trucks after the morgue exceeded capacity.
The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, visited a shelter for evacuees in the district on Friday.
“I really have to apologise to them for letting this happen during the time I am in government,” he told reporters in footage broadcast on AmarinTV.
“The next step is to prevent the situation from deteriorating,” he added, announcing a two-week timeframe for the district’s clean-up.
The Thai government rolled out relief measures for those affected by the flooding, including compensation of up to 2m baht ($62,000) for households that lost family members.
As floodwaters receded, shop owner Rachane Remsringam picked through rubbish strewn between the aisles of his general goods store, lamenting hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.
His store, Madam Yong, was looted and vandalised in the wake of the disaster, he said.
There has been growing public criticism of Thailand’s flood response and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.
An MP from the opposition People’s party criticised the administration, saying it “wrongly estimated the situation” and made “errors in handling the flood crisis”.
Two people were killed in Malaysia by flooding caused by heavy rain that left stretches of northern Perlis state under water.
The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rain, triggering landslides and flash floods.
A tropical storm has exacerbated conditions, and the tolls in Indonesia and Thailand rank among the highest in floods in those countries in recent years.
Climate change has affected storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts.
