Rescue teams in western Indonesia worked on Monday to reopen roads buried by landslides and floods, as clearer weather revealed the true scale of a rare tropical storm that has killed nearly 700 people across Southeast Asia.
The storm, which formed unusually in the Malacca Strait, brought a week of torrential rain and violent winds to Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Indonesia has recorded the highest toll so far, with 502 dead and 508 still missing, according to official figures. Thailand has reported 176 fatalities, while three people have died in Malaysia.
In Palembayan, West Sumatra, residents spent the morning digging through mud, uprooted trees and collapsed rooftops, hoping to recover documents, motorcycles and any valuables still intact. Pickup trucks moved slowly through the debris, carrying volunteers and families searching for missing relatives.
Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia
Indonesia's National Disaster Agency said more than 28,000 homes have been damaged and 1.4 million people affected. President Prabowo Subianto toured the three hard-hit provinces on Monday, praising local resilience and vowing to restore key roads, bridges and telecommunications "as quickly as possible."
Thailand is also moving into the restoration phase. Flooding across eight southern provinces has affected around 3 million people, with Songkhla suffering the highest losses. Hat Yai, a major commercial hub, saw its heaviest single-day rainfall in 300 years. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has set a target of seven days for residents to return home.
Malaysia, meanwhile, still has 11,600 people in evacuation centres and is bracing for potential new waves of flooding. The storm follows months of intense weather across the region, including typhoons in the Philippines and Vietnam. Scientists warn that climate change is likely to make extreme events like this increasingly common.