Spanish
At least 710 people have died on the Indonesian island of Sumatra (west) due to the most severe floods of the year in Asia, which also leave 507 missing and more than a million evacuated, authorities reported this Tuesday.
The Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) doubled the number of displaced persons compared to Monday, when it recorded just over half a million people evacuated in the provinces of North Sumatra, Aceh and West Sumatra. The storm has affected some 3.3 million people in the affected provinces, which, in total, are home to more than 20 million citizens, while the number of injured, some of them seriously, is approaching 6,200.You can also read: Donald Trump stated that Honduras is "trying to alter the results" of the presidential elections
The BNPB also indicates that nearly 9,000 houses have been damaged, 3,600 of which were destroyed, due to river overflows and landslides. Likewise, floodwaters have destroyed at least 323 schools and 299 bridges, while authorities continue to quantify damages and victims in 50 districts that were particularly affected. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visited some communities in North Sumatra on Monday, where local authorities have requested the government to declare a national disaster, something that has only happened three times in the last three decades, including the covid-19 pandemic and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The losses in the devastated areas amount to 68.67 trillion rupiahs (more than 4 billion US dollars), indicates a report from the Center for Economic and Legal Studies (CELIOS), based in Jakarta This independent research institute points to deforestation, the expansion of oil palm plantations, and mining activities in the affected region as triggers of the "ecological disaster". Water levels have begun to recede in some areas of Sumatra, linked to the copious rains caused by the monsoon and an unusual tropical cyclone that hit the island last week. Floods affect several countries in South and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, with 181 deaths and multimillion-dollar losses in several southern provinces; and Sri Lanka, with more than 400 deaths, 336 missing, and an alert for increased risk of infectious diseases due to contaminated water and mud.
