Severe weather

Fresh rain forecasts for Thursday have raised concerns in flood-stricken Indonesia and Sri Lanka, following earlier deluges that claimed over 1,500 lives across four countries.In Indonesia, the meteorological agency has warned that the three hardest-hit provinces on Sumatra could experience “moderate to heavy” rain from Thursday through Friday, News.Az reports, citing AFP.The rain began overnight but has not yet reached the intensity that caused last week’s devastating flash floods and landslides.As of Thursday, the death toll in Indonesia stood at 776, slightly revised from earlier reports as information from remote and inaccessible areas continues to arrive. More than 560 people remain missing, with disrupted communications and electricity hampering efforts to confirm their whereabouts.At a shelter in Pandan in North Sumatra, 54-year-old Sabandi told AFP she was still traumatised by the floods that swept feet of mud into her home last week."We feel scared," she said of the forecast."We are afraid that if it rains suddenly, the flood will come again."She waited out the floods on her roof for two days, stranded without food or water, before she could evacuate."My house was filled with mud. The mud was so high that we couldn't enter the house," she added.While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging.In Indonesia's Banda Aceh, an AFP reporter said the line for fuel at one gas station extended four kilometres.Elsewhere, survivors reported food shortages, price gouging and looting.In Sri Lanka, forecasters said the northeast monsoon was due to arrive from Thursday afternoon.Landslide alerts were renewed for some of the worst-hit areas of the central region, and residents were advised not to return home as the already saturated slopes could collapse under more rainfall.The main highway from Colombo to Kandy, a distance of 115 kilometres (71 miles), was reopened for 15 hours a day, as workers cleared mounds of soil and boulders.On an alternative route between the regions, an AFP reporter saw traffic moving at a crawl as vehicles navigated badly damaged tarmac.
Jagged tears on the mountainside revealed fresh expanses of soil, stark against lush greenery.At least 479 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, and hundreds remain missing, with the president appealing for international support.Authorities estimate they will need up to $7 billion to rebuild homes, industries and roads, a tough ask for a country still emerging from its worst-ever economic crisis three years ago.Soma Wanniarachchi, 69, had stayed behind as long as she could, "but when the water level reached about eight feet (2.5 metres), I decided to leave," she told AFP.Back in her village of Kotuwila, near Colombo, she was shocked to see the damage to her catering equipment rental business."My stainless steel utensils are now probably in the Indian Ocean," she said.