Flood rescue teams in Thailand readied drones to deliver aid and helicopters dropped supplies to people marooned on rooftops yesterday, as the death toll from its worst floods in years rose and the number killed by a cyclone in Indonesia climbed to 61.
Thailand’s government said 55 people died during severe floods from a week of heavy rain that has devastated nine southern provinces, while on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, rescue teams battled to reach communities cut off by landslides and floods that wreaked chaos in three provinces.
Thailand has pushed relief efforts into high gear after the military brought in an aircraft carrier, 20 helicopters and convoys of trucks to deliver food, medicine and dinghies, and issued a public appeal for boats and jet skis to reach people stranded for days by waters up to two metres high.
Floodwaters had receded yesterday in Thailand’s worst-hit city of Hat Yai and authorities were optimistic that access could increase and allow basic services to be restored.
“Efforts to assist the public are continuing, but the flooding situation will be a long fight,” Thai government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said.
Nearly three million people have been affected by floods in southern Thailand, with thousands of people huddling in evacuation centres, while in neighbouring Malaysia, similar flooding in seven states killed two people and forced more than 34,000 into shelters.
On Sumatra, an Indonesian island of 60m people, a tropical cyclone unleashed deadly floods and landslides, with at least 100 people missing and power outages and damaged infrastructure hampering rescue efforts.
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