Suben a más de 1.400 los muertos por inundaciones en Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Tailandia y Malasia – Chicago Tribune

By BINSAR BAKKARA

BATANG TORU, Indonesia (AP) — Parts of Asia have been warned that torrential waters caused flooding and disasters last week, affecting more than 1,400 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. Disaster has also already come to light economic disparities in the region.

Indonesia is the most affected country with at least 753 victims. While in Sri Lanka, with 465, but its president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said he was ready to determine the exact number of deaths. Authorities have also confirmed at least 185 deaths in Thailand and another three in Malaysia.

The emergency teams are on duty against the clock to reach the local communities, with more than 1,000 people missing and others who continue to be buried beneath the barrier and the debris amidst the energy and telecom networks.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visited one of the affected areas last month and promised aid and reconstruction efforts, but without declaring national emergency or seeking international assistance like his counterpart in Sri Lanka.

Indonesia and Thailand, with mid-income economies with the strongest comparable fiscal capacity, could hit the ground running on many rescue operations, freeing up military resources and channeling emergency funds, while Sri Lanka responds to the disaster under much more difficult conditions.

Its prime minister, Harini Amarasuriya, met with diplomats last week to help meet governors’ relief and reconstruction needs.

In a process of recovery from a deep economic crisis, Sri Lanka is faced with limited resources, escalating divisions and weakened public services, making the response to a large-scale maritime disaster much more difficult and increasing its dependence on external aid.

Authorities in Indonesia report that the destruction caused by days of torrential rain and an unusual tropical storm that hit the island of Sumatra was the deadliest disaster since landfall and the 2018 Sulawesi tsunami, which claimed the lives of more than 4,300 people.

Destroyed roads, collapsed bridges and continued destruction of land have made it difficult for rescue teams to access some parts of the worst-hit areas, and the National Disaster Management Agency has confirmed that it already has 650 people missing. The devastated provinces of Sumatra del Norte, West Sumatra and Aceh, where kilometers of residents in abandoned villages are forced to take refuge in tejados and copas de árboles in the hope of being rescued in the previous days.

The agency said more than 1.5 million residents were destroyed by the disaster that caused decades of miles of homes and public facilities. With a total of 2,600 inhabitants and overwhelmed hospitals, the government is sending three hospitals to the affected provinces.

In Sri Lanka, it is hoped that the floods will have a significant impact on the economy, which has recently stabilized after an unprecedented crisis. The island nation is currently under an International Monetary Fund bailout program that requires divisions to be retained to pay external mora debt from 2028.

As the full cost of economic damage is assessed, it is likely that the cost of rebuilding infrastructure, restoring livelihoods and reactivating economic activity will put severe pressure on the public purse.

With vast arroceras and mountainous areas, major suppliers of vegetables, devastated by the calamity, Sri Lanka may be forced to accept its division reserves.

Countries such as India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have been able to begin aid initiatives, while other foreign diplomats who will meet with the country’s prime minister have promised to provide more.

In Thailand, government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said recovery temperatures in the country were progressing at a good pace and water and electricity were being restored to all affected areas.

The government has paid more than 1,000 million baht ($31.3 million) in compensation to more than 120,000 flood-affected households, aggregated.

___

Associated Press journalists Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Thailand; Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka; Eranga Jayawardena in Sarasavigama, Sri Lanka; and Eileen Ng of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this despacho.

___

This story was translated into English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.